THE  LIVING  CHRIST 
^^"""  LATIN  AMERICA 


11 


.XH.M!5  LEAN 


BV  2830  .M34  1916  c.l 
McLean,  James  Hector. 
The  living  Christ  for  Latin 
America 


K/ 


(V.;- 


CipsTiglit  )iy  Underwood  &  Underwood,  N.  Y. 
Market  Day,   Barranquilla,  ColoinI)ia 


'V^ 


The  Living  Christ 


FOR 


Latin  America 


^ 


J.  H.  McLEAN 

Missionary  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 
Santiago,  Chile 


Prepared  nnder  Editorial  Supervision  of 

THE  GENERAL  ASSEMBLY'S  AND  WOMAN'S  BOARDS  OF 

FOREIGN  MISSIONS 


PHILADELPHLA 

THE  PRESBYTERLAJV  BOARD  OF  PUBLICATION 

AND  SABBATH  SCHOOL  WORK 

1916 


Copyright,  1916,  by  the  Trustees  of 

The  Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication  and 

Sabbath  School  Work 


TO  MY  WIFE, 

DEAREST  OF  ALL  THE  HONORED  COMRADES 

WHO  COOPERATE   IN    HEROIC   AND  SELF-EFFACING 

LOYALTY  TO  EXTEND  THE   B^NOWLEDGE 

OF  CHRIST, 

AND  TO   MY  CHILDREN, 

NEAREST   OF  ALL  THOSE   TO  WHOM  LATIN  AMERICA 

SIGNIFIES   BIRTHPLACE   AND  HOME, 

THESE  STUDIES  ARE 

INSCRIBED. 


Ill 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Preface vii 

I.  The  Land  and  Its  Possibilities 1 

II.  The  Heritage  of  a  People 27 

III.  Latin  America  To-Day 50 

rV.  Latin  America,  a  Mission  Field 87 

V.  Protestant  Pathfinders 109 

VI.  A  Half  Century  of  Evangehsm 130 

VII.  Pan-American  Brotherhood  and  Service    .    .  163 

Appendix  A 183 

Appendix  B 184 

Appendix  C 185 

Appendix  D  . 188 


PREFACE 


Mr.  McLean  writes  as  one  who  has  lived,  and  is  return- 
ing to  live  among  the  Latin  American  people.  Li  a  real 
sense  he  has  made  them  his  people.  For  ten  years  he  has 
been  in  Chile  and  for  some  time,  at  the  request  of  the  Chil- 
ian educational  leaders,  has  been  teaching  in  the  Univer- 
sity of  Chile,  and  has  enjoyed  in  an  unusual  degree  the  inti- 
macy and  confidence  of  the  educated  class.  He  writes, 
as  every  writer  must,  out  of  his  own  experience  and  from 
his  own  point  of  observation,  and  he  has  not  been  re- 
strained in  the  free  expression  of  his  own  strong  personal- 
ity, either  in  the  form  or  in  the  substance  of  what  he  has 
written.  Especially  has  he  spoken  with  freedom  his 
enthusiastic  personal  convictions  regarding  the  women 
of  Latin  America.  In  deaHng  with  the  prevailing  rehgious 
institution  and  with  the  moral  and  religious  ideals  and 
practices  among  great  bodies  of  the  men  of  the  Latin 
American  nations,  he  has  spoken  with  positiveness  but 
with  the  effort  to  set  forth  with  judgment  and  truth 
some  of  the  conditions  which  good  men  throughout  Latin 
America  realize  as  clearly  as  anyone  and  are  seeking 
earnestly  to  change.  All  of  our  American  nations.  North 
and  South,  our  own  as  well  as  the  Latin  American  lands, 
have  their  great  problems  to  deal  with,  and  we  should 
all  be  eager  to  know  the  truth,  that  the  work  of  patriotism 
and  friendly  service  may  be  done  with  fruitfulness  and 
power. 

The  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  the  enlarged  com- 
mercial relations  of  the  American  nations  and  their 
increasing  friendliness  and  political  good  understanding, 
the  pressure  of  the  European  War,  the  community  of 
interests  and  endeavor  in  North  and  South  America, 

vii 


PREFACE 

and  many  other  influences  have  united  to  strengthen  at 
this  time  our  interest  in  our  neighboring  peoples.  The 
Panama  Congress  of  Christian  Work  in  Latin  America 
has  drawn  attention  afresh  to  the  duty  of  the  churches 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada  to  draw  nearer  in  sym- 
pathy and  helpfuhiess  to  the  evangelical  churches  in 
Latin  America  and  to  the  peoples  among  whom  they  are 
doing  their  work.  New  books  on  Latin  America  are, 
accordingly,  opportune  and  Mr.  McLean  has  taken 
advantage  of  the  wealth  of  new  material  which  the 
reports  and  discussions  at  Panama  have  made  available. 

This  book  is  issued  to  meet  the  special  needs  of  Pres- 
byterian Mission  Study  classes.  The  agreement  by 
which  our  Boards  have  from  year  to  year  joined  with 
the  Mission  Boards  of  other  denominations  to  promote 
the  use  of  the  output  of  the  United  Study  Committee 
and  the  Missionary  Education  Movement  leaves  all  the 
Boards  free  to  issue  special  denominational  courses, 
when  these  would  serve  a  larger  purpose,  without  being 
in  any  way  disloyal  to  the  interdenominational  organ- 
izations. 

The  present  is  such  a  time.  Our  Woman's  Boards 
desire  to  center  attention  upon  the  study  of  Latin  Amer- 
ica, and  the  plans  of  the  United  Study  Committee  do 
not  provide  such  a  course.  Li  the  second  place,  our  mis- 
sions in  Mexico,  Guatemala,  Colombia,  Venezuela,  Chile 
and  BrazU  call  for  special  study  which  could  not  be 
provided  in  a  general  interdenominational  course  on 
South  America  such  as  is  issued  by  the  Missionary 
Education  Movement. 

For  these  reasons  the  Assembly's  and  Woman's  Boards 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  are  cooperating  to  issue 
this  book  and  are  jointly  recommending  it  for  the  use  of 
men,  women,  and  young  people.  It  is  desired  that  it 
should  be  made  clear  that  the  issue  of  a  separate  textbook 
is  not  a  sign  of  dissatisfaction  with  the  interdenomina- 
tional agencies  or  their  publications.    Quite  otherwise. 

viii 


PREFACE 

These  publications  are  recommended  for  use  as  reference 
material  bearing  upon  the  subject  matter  of  this  book. 
It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  books  for  our  Mission  Study 
classes  which  are  based  on  a  deep  and  thorough  belief 
in  the  Latin  American  peoples;  which  recognize  the  good 
in  their  racial  character  and  poHtical  and  rehgious  inher- 
itance, and  anticipate  for  them  a  great  and  broadening 
future,  and  which,  at  the  same  time,  seek  to  see  the  facts 
of  the  present  as  they  are,  and  to  set  them  forth  in  love 
and  truth.  Only  so  can  we  discover  our  own  duty  and 
be  able  to  enter  with  sympathy  and  seriousness  into  the 
efforts  of  the  Latin  American  people  to  work  out  the 
mission  to  which  God  is  calling  them  in  the  Hfe  and 
service  of  his  Kingdom. 

156  Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  Robert  E.  Speer 

April  8,  1916 


ix 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR 
LATIN  AMERICA 


CHAPTER  I 
THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

We  of  Anglo-Saxon  America  are  to  explore  Latin 
America  together.  On  her  soil  and  among  her  peoples, 
the  Old  World  of  the  Csesars  fused  with  the  New  World 
of  the  Indian.  Four  centuries  after  the  first  rude  impact, 
we  face  a  new  civilization  with  elements  both  classic  and 
crude,  unique  in  its  character. 

In  general  terms  we  speak  of  two  Americas.  In  reality 
there  are  four — ^Northern,  Southern,  Central,  and  Oce- 
anic. The  Rio  Grande  is  Latin  America's  northern 
boundary;  southward  it  stretches  to  the  Antarctic 
Ocean. 

Anglo-Saxon  America  contains  6,577,800  square  miles 
and  115,667,117  inhabitants;  Latin  America  has  a  total 
area  of  8,459,081  square  miles,  a  population  of  80,203,902* 
and  comprises  about  three  fifths  of  the  entire  Western 
Hemisphere.  Its  political  divisions  are  twenty  republics 
— ten  to  the  north  and  ten  to  the  south  of  Panama. 
They  form  within  one  vast  territory,  the  largest  group 
of  the  world's  democracies.  (The  Guianas,  Trinidad, 
British  and  French  West  Indies  are  under  European 
control.) 

Latins  gave  to  these  lands  their  tone,  while  the  abo- 
rigines furnished  volume  and  color.  One  remarkable 
fact  which  we  must  ever  bear  in  mind  is  that  "aU  the 
European  blood  from  the  Caribbean  to  Cape  Horn 
probably  does  not  exceed  that  to  be  found  within  the  area 

*  Statesman's  Year  Book,  1915. 

1 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 


inclosed  by  lines  connecting  Washington,  Buffalo,  Duluth, 
and  St.  Louis."* 

When  we  consider  the  further  projection  of  Latin 
America  into  our  own  Southwest,  California  and  Florida, 
we  begin  to  realize  how  great  was  that  ancient  empire 
over  which  lordly  Philip  II  held  sway. 

Almost  half  of  Latin  America  (3,219,000  square  miles) 
was  discovered,  colonized  and  molded  by  Portugal. 
Brazil,  or  Portuguese  America,  is  larger  than  the  United 
States  (without  Alaska)  and  outranks  all  the  rest  of  South 
America  in  size.  Between  1581  and  1641  the  scepter  of 
Portugal  passed  into  the  grasp  of  imperial  Spain  so  that  i 
the  whole  of  Latin  America  was  included  in  the  over-sea 
dominions  of  the  mighty  Phihp. 

Oceanic  Latin  America  lies  within  the  Caribbean  Sea — 
the  American  Mediterranean.    Cuba,  Porto  Rico,  Haiti 

and  Santo  Domingo  which  formed 

the  old  Dominican  Republic  are  more 
or  less  alike  in  physical  features — 
islands  with  low,  unbroken  coast  line 
rising  to  the  rocky,  central  ridges  and 
covered  with  dense,  tropical  growth. 
Central  America  slopes  east  and 
west  from  the  Sierras  in  a  curved 
horn  that  tapers  to  the  narrow 
width  of  Panama.  South  America's 
skeleton  is  a  huge,  inverted  right- 
angled  triangle. 

Mountain  Systems. — The  chain  of  mountains  which 
extends  from  Alaska  to  Cape  Horn  determines  the  curve 
of  the  western  shore.  The  Andes  of  Peru  and  Chile  he 
directly  south  of  the  Atlantic  seaboard  of  the  United 
States  so  that  most  of  South  America  Hes  east  of  the 
longitude  of  New  York. 

This  massive  bulwark  not  only  gives  shape  to  the  lands 

•  E.  A.   Ross,  "South  of  Panama." 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

along  the  Pacific;  it  modifies  both  climate  and  soil.  Only 
the  Himalayas  rise  beyond  the  height  of  the  majestic 
Andes.  Half  of  the  tallest  peaks  in  the  world  are  found 
in  Latin  America.  Aconcagua,  near  Valparaiso,  Chile, 
is  22,868  feet  high  and  towers  above  them  all.  Whole 
nations  live  on  the  higher  slopes  and  till  the  valleys  that 
nestle  among  the  clouds.  Cities  two  miles  above  sea 
level  are  only  halfway  up  the  Cordilleras. 

The  eastern  hills  and  coast  ranges  are  less  rugged  and 
forbidding  to  man  and  can  be  utilized  almost  to  their 
summits.  But  he  who  considers  Latin  America  must 
think  in  terms  of  hillsides,  rocky  passes,  mountain 
torrents,  lofty  tablelands,  and  shimmering  snow  fields,  of 
stony  wastes  and  rainless,  barren  sands,  ere  he  pictures  to 
himself  the  fertile  plains  and  the  watered  fields. 

River  Systems. — There  are  no  great  rivers  on  the  west- 
tern  slope — only  hissing  floods  that  leap  and  sHde  from 
their  glacier  beds  to  the  sea,  altering  their  tortuous 
channels  with  each  freshet.  But  the  gradual  descent  to 
the  Atlantic  shore  is  a  mighty  watershed. 

The  Amazon  taps  the  snows  of  Peru,  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  miles  from  Lima,  and  flows  eastward  across 
Brazil  draining  a  million  square  miles  more  than  the  Miss- 
issippi. Its  basin  is  the  heart  of  a  continent,  its  volume 
three  times  that  of  the  "Father  of  Waters."  For  one  thou- 
sand miles  from  its  mouth  it  is  navigable  by  large  ocean 
steamers;  its  waterways  will  float  steamships  of  medium 
size  for  twenty-five  thousand  miles,  and  boats  of  lesser 
draft  for  double  that  distance.  Its  tributaries  have 
not  all  been  explored;  ex-President  Roosevelt  began  his 
search  too  late  in  Kfe.  The  La  Plata  system,  which  com- 
prises the  river  Parana  with  its  affluents  on  the  north- 
west, drains  a  territory  equal  to  one  fourth  of  the  United 
States,  is  the  only  outlet  for  the  isolated  tract  of  Para- 
guay, and  sweeps  past  the  second  port  of  the  New  World 
to  the  broad  estuary  where  the  ships  of  all  nations  are 

3 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

filling  their  holds  with  the  grain  that  ripens  along  her 
banks.  The  La  Plata,  or  River  Plate,  has  a  discharge 
seven  times  as  great  as  that  of  the  St.  Lawrence.  Sea- 
going vessels  can  go  one  thousand  two  hundred  miles 
up  the  river  from  Buenos  Aires  and  smaller  ships  three 
thousand  miles  into  the  interior. 

Nor  must  we  omit  the  mighty  Orinoco,  one  thousand 
five  hundred  miles  long,  which  is  the  main  artery 
of  the  northeast.  If  we  included  rivers  like  the  Mag- 
dalena  (seven  hundred  miles  in  length)  or  the  San  Fran- 
cisco (seven  hundred  and  fifty  miles  long)  our  fist  would 
be  wearisome  to  the  reader. 

Coast  Outline. — ^The  Pacific  Coast,  on  account  of  its 
rugged  backbone,  is  difficult  of  approach  toward  the  south 
and  good  harbors  are  rare  except  where  the  roadsteads 
are  sheltered  by  promontories  or  where  the  widened 
mouth  of  a  river  affords  protection.  Inlets  and  bays 
abound  around  the  Caribbean  but  they  are  not  suitable 
for  landing  or  lading  on  a  large  scale. 

Low,  marshy  banks  are  exceptional.  In  Central 
America  the  best  ports  are  on  the  Pacific  side;  in  South 
America  we  find  them  on  the  Atlantic  shore. 

Comparisons. — The  size  of  Latin  America  can  best  be 
grasped  by  comparison.  Argentina  is  one  third  the 
size  of  the  United  States;  Colombia  is  twice  the 
area  of  the  German  Empire;  Peru  would  cover  the  west- 
ern half  of  Europe;  Mexico  is  seven  times  as  large  as  Italy. 

Chile  looks  thin  on  the  map  yet  its  surface  is  double 
that  of  California.  It  would  stretch  from  Washington 
to  San  Francisco.  Brazil  has  more  than  five  thousand 
miles  of  coast  line.  Salvador,  the  midget  state,  is  half 
the  size  of  Switzerland,  and  Paraguay  is  nearly  twice  as 
large  as  the  British  Isles.  Ecuador  is  larger  than  all 
New  England;  Venezuela  and  BoHvia  could  each  contain 
two  states  the  size  of  Texas.* 

•  Shepherd,  "Latin  America,"  p.  107. 

4 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

The  six  Central  American  republics  have  an  area  equal 
to  that  of  France;  Guatemala  is  larger  than  Spain  and 
Portugal. 

It  is  six  thousand  five  hundred  miles  from  New 
York  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  Liverpool  and  Havre 
are  only  a  week's  sail  from  New  York,  but  one  requires 
twenty-two  days  to  reach  Valparaiso  or  Rio  and  twenty- 
four  days  for  a  cruise  to  Buenos  Aires. 

Climate. — Latin  America  lies  almost  wholly  within  the 
tropics.  About  half  of  Chile,  Argentina  and  Uruguay 
are  within  the  temperate  zone.  The  tip  of  Patagonia 
approaches  the  frozen  circle  round  the  South  Pole.  The 
rest  is  tropical  or  semitropical. 

A  territory  so  immense  with  a  topography  so  varied 
must  present  some  very  interesting  phases  of  climate. 
Moisture,  prevailing  winds,  ocean  currents,  and  height 
above  sea  level  modify  what  one  might  be  led  to  expect 
from  the  latitude  of  a  given  section.  An  American  mining 
engineer  whose  friends  were  treating  him  with  the  utmost 
sympathy  because  his  work  took  him  to  a  point  only  two 
degrees  north  of  the  equator  smiled  as  he  remarked: 
*T  do  more  shivering  than  sweating  away  up  three  miles 
high  among  the  clouds."  The  cholos  of  BoHvia  are  toasted 
with  the  sun  at  noonday,  yet  they  provide  themselves 
with  the  heaviest  of  woolen  garments  for  the  night.  The 
southwest  coast  of  South  America  is  cooled  by  the  Hum- 
boldt current  that  sweeps  inshore  from  the  south  polar 
sea  and  lowers  the  temperature  twenty  degrees.  Buenos 
Aires  and  Santiago  are  almost  opposite  one  another 
on  the  map  yet  they  are  quite  unlike  in  climate. 

There  are  large  rainless  areas  which  are  an  exception 
to  rule.  The  snow-capped  peaks  send  a  chill  through 
every  perspiring  tourist.  On  the  steep  ascents  one  has 
only  to  move  his  residence  to  obtain  any  degree  of  heat 
or  cold  he  desires. 

An  elevation  of  a  mile  near  the  equator  will  give  the 

5 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

mean  temperature  of  a  point  one  thousand  miles  north 
or  south  at  sea  level.  Moreover,  humidity  and  air  pres- 
sure affect  one's  sensations  quite  as  much  as  heat  and  cold. 
The  European  or  North  American,  if  prudent  in  the 
care  of  his  mind  and  body,  can  retain  his  vitality  in  the 
temperate  cHmates.  Tropical  Latin  America,  at  sea 
level,  however,  can  never  become  the  permanent  home 
of  the  white  man.* 

Presbyterian  Mission  Fields  in  Latin  America. — A 
closer  look  at  the  countries  in  which  our  representatives 
are'working  will  be  of  interest  to  our  students. 

Mexico. — Mexico  covers  an  area  of  785,881  square 
miles  and  the  census  returns  for  1910  give  its  population 
as    15,160,369 — a  density  of    7.7   to  the  square  mile. 


Between  1900  and  1910  its  population  increased  almost 
two  millions. 

Mexico  lies  within  the  tropics  but  its  hot  cHmate  is 
tempered  by  winds,  high  mountains,  and  lofty  tablelands 

*  See  exhaustive  article  by  E.  H.  Huntington  in  Clark  University  address, 
1913,  p.  360. 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

SO  that  sections  of  Mexico  are  most  desirable  as  health 
resorts  on  account  of  the  equable  temperature. 

The  products  of  Mexico  are  varied  and  highly  useful 
to  mankind.  Her  fertile  areas  yield  cereals  and  fruits 
and  her  foothills  provide  grazing  for  immense  herds  of 
cattle.    About  one  sixth  of  Mexican  soil  is  cultivated. 

Her  mineral  deposits  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  petro- 
leum are  extensive;  exports  from  her  mines  in  1910 
amounted  to  almost  two  hundred  million  dollars. 

Guatemala. — Guatemala  has  an  area  of  48,290  square 
miles  and  a  population  of  2,119,165;  43  to  the  square 
mile  as  compared  with  29.6  in  the  United  States. 

It  is  a  land  of  mountains,  many  of  which  are  volcanic. 
"A  land  of  perpetual  spring  and  inexhaustible  soil — such 
is  Guatemala,"  says  one  writer.  Guatemala  City,  the 
capital,  lies  inland  on  a  high  ridge  of  hills.  It  is  one 
hundred  and  ninety  miles  from  Puerto  Barrios  and  sixty 
miles  from  San  Jose.  Communications  with  the  United 
States  are  maintained  across  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  ^by 
steamship  hues  and  with  Mexico  by  rail.  The  coast 
cHmate  is  hot  and  enervating  but,  as  one  rises,  he  passes 
through  a  variety  of  climates  until  he  reaches  Tierra 
Fria  where  the  elevation  is  eleven  thousand  feet  and  the 
air  is  bracing  and  cold. 

Venezuela. — ^According  to  the  data  furnished  by  the 
Director  General  of  the  Venezuelan  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
the  country  has  an  area  of  393,976  square  miles  and  a 
population  of  2,811,046 — less  than  eight  to  the  square 
mile. 

There  are  three  zones:  the  extensive  plains  and  river 
valleys  known  as  the  llanos,  where  pasturage  is  abundant; 
the  mountain  section  formed  by  three  ranges;  and  the  dry 
and  healthful  tablelands. 

Its  principal  exports  are  coffee,  cacao  beans,  hides, 
tobacco,  cabinet  woods,  medicinal  plants,  and  asphaltum. 

7 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 


The  climate  of  Venezuela  is  balmy  and  vegetation  is 
luxuriant.  Less  than  ten  per  cent  of  Venezuelans 
are  of  pure  Spanish  ancestry.  Negro  and  Indian  have 
blended  freely  along  the  coast  but  the  inhabitants  of 
the  interior  are  almost  wholly  of  Indian  descent.  Vene- 
zuela and  her  sister  Colombia  are  lands  where  the  natives 
are  "fed  by  gra\dtation  and  clothed  by  sunshine." 

Caracas,  the  capital  (seventy-five  thousand),  is  only 
seven  miles  as  the  crow  flies  from  La  Guaira,  the  seaport, 
but  the  railway  connecting  them  covers  twenty-three 
miles  of  track  space.    Looldng  up  the  mountain  side  from 

La  Guaira  one  may 
catch  a  glimpse  of 
the  old  fortress  men- 
tioned by  Charles 
Kingsley  in  "West- 
ward Ho"  as  the 
prison  of  "The  Rose 
of  Devon."  Frequent 
earthquakes  have 
demolished   Caracas. 


MI 
"» — ■ 


,  Tresbj-tt,  .«^    ^ 
lX^.A'.  Misaions"'^ 


Colombia. — Colom- 
bia has  an  area  of 
438,436  square  miles 
and  a  population  of  5,472,604 — 12.5  to  the  square 
mile.  In  natural  resources  there  is  not  a  richer  republic 
in  South  America.  The  tropical  lowlands  that  lie  along 
the  coast  of  the  Caribbean  are  admirable  for  fruit-raising; 
the  plateaus  and  mountain  regions  are  fertile  tracts  for 
coffee  and  cocoa  plantations;  there  are  wide  stretches 
for  grazing  and  interminable  transandean  forests  where 
the  most  valuable  woods  abound. 

The    hinterland    of    Colombia   is    the   rubber-raising 
district.    Her  mines  produce  gold,  coal,  and  iron  and  there 
are  valuable  deposits  of  petroleum  and  asphalt. 
The  land  is  well-watered  and  well-drained.     Nature 

8 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 


\ 


/  CAMlUlRjt 


>10C0PILLA 


&HANWM 


fM.t)ERA 

copmto 

"VALLtNdR. , 


has  been  generous  with  Colombia  but 
man  has  been  lacking  in  both  energy 
and  invention.  Few  countries  on  the 
earth's  surface  are  more  backward 
than  Colombia. 

Between  the  Andes  and  the  two 
oceans  there  are  a  number  of  valleys 
drained  by  the  Cauca,  Magdalena, 
and  San  Francisco  rivers.  Bogota, 
the  capital  city  of  one  hundred  thou- 
sand, is  nearly  five  hundred  miles 
from  the  seacoast  and  is  reached  by 
river  steamers.  Colombia  has  less 
than  four  hundred  miles  of  railroads, 
all  of  which  are  due  to  the  efforts  of 
foreigners. 


Ml 


"TV   I      trnit. 


"CliRXO 

CH1LU^I 

tftKGQ       ,  /      S 
feONCEPClOH.-         X 


T       f 

TRftlQUtN  I 


Chile.— The  Republic  of  Chile  con- 
tains 291,500  square  miles,  its  length 
is  2,627  miles  and  its  width  varies 
from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
and  forty-eight  miles.  The  popula- 
tion is  3,505,317  or  twelve  per  square 
mile.  Its  long,  narrow  strip  of  land 
between  the  mountains  and  the  sea 
reaches  from  the  tropics  to  the  Ant- 
arctic Circle. 

There  are  four  zones. 

1.  From  18°-27°  South  Latitude— 
the  great  nitrate  region  of  Atacama 
which  is  sandy  and  rainless. 

2.  From  27°-33°  South  Latitude— 
the  mineral  section  which  yields 
copper,  silver  and  iron.  Vegetation 
depends  on  irrigation. 

3.  The  Agricultural  Zone  from 
33°-42°  South  Latitude,  also  known  as 

9 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  I'OR  LATIN  AMEIUCA 

the  Central  Valley  where  the  land  is  fertile  and  well- 
watered,  resembling  the  Sacramento  Valley  in  California. 

4.  The  Arctic  South  Coast  and  Archipelago  end  of 
South  America  where  rain  is  abundant,  forests  are  dense, 
and  the  uplands  are  excellent  for  pasturing  cattle  and 
sheep.  The  southern  end  shades  off  into  the  canals  of 
Patagonia  and  the  Straits  of  Magellan  where  the  glacier 
cataracts  have  been  described  as  frozen  Niagaras. 

The  north  of  Chile  has  a  warm,  dry  climate;  the  center 
is  temperate  and  bracing,  while  that  of  the  south  grad- 
ually grows  damp  and  cold. 


COLOMBIA.:^.        %] 


PreabTteriftn  U.S.A.  MiBsioM       ^■ 

Presbvterisu  U.S.  Missions  « 

,(.  Brazilian  Presbyterian  Church    . 


SO 

ValpsralS,Oii  I" 


Brazil. — What  a  mighty  empire  is  Brazil!  Its  area  is 
3,218,130  square  miles;  its  population  is  24,000,000— 7.1 
per  square  mile.    It  is  two  hundred  thousand  square  miles 

10 


Ci.pyriglit  hy  Uinlerw.x.d  &  Underw.iod,   N,  T. 

Old  Spanish  Mine  Still  Yielding  Its  Treasure,  Cerro  de  Pasco.  Peru 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

larger  than  the  United  States  without  Alaska.  In  the 
interior  of  Brazil  there  are  two  hundred  and  fifty  tribes 
of  Indians  speaking  almost  as  many  dialects.  (The 
language  of  Brazil  is  Portuguese.) 

Lying  entirely  within  the  tropical  and  temperate  zones, 
its  climate  is  mild  and  warm  but  modified  by  the  river  and 
mountain  systems.  The  extensive  stretches  and  the  fertile 
plains  produce  all  tropical  fruits.  The  forest  wealth  of 
Brazil  has  hardly  been  tapped  and  it  is  said  that  no  other 
region  in  the  world  contains  such  a  variety  of  useful  and 
ornamental  timber  and  medicinal  plants.  Coffee,  rubber, 
cacao,  and  the  excellent  red  dyewood  known  as  ''Brazil 
wood"  are  the  principal  articles  of  export,  while  cotton, 
sugar  cane,  tobacco,  yerha  mate,  oranges,  and  other  fruits 
are  exported.  Iron  and  manganese  mines,  and  diamond 
fields  are  among  her  treasures. 

Mineral  Resources. — Good  soil,  abundant  rainfall,  and 
a  genial  climate  must  be  ranked  first  among  the  resources 
of  Latin  America.  Her  mountains,  which  cover  about 
one  third  of  her  area,  are  surcharged  with  treasure. 
Fully  one  half  of  the  interior  has  never  been  explored 
and  the  mining  engineers  have  only  begun  their  task. 

Bolivia  ranks  above  the  Straits  Settlements  as  a  pro- 
ducer of  tin.  Mexico  and  Peru  furnish  large  deposits  of 
high-grade  petroleum.  Chile  exported  nitrate  worth  one 
hundred  and  twenty  million  dollars  in  1913,  smelted 
twenty-five  thousand  tons  of  commercially  pure  copper 
in  a  single  estabHshment,  and  has  a  mountain  of  the 
richest  iron  ore  near  Coquimbo  which  even  the  Bethlehem 
Steel  Company  could  not  resist.  The  cobalt  tinge  runs 
along  whole  ranges  of  scarred  hills  in  Peru  and  Chile. 
The  old  Incas  extracted  their  fabulous  riches  from  mines 
that  are  still  worked. 

Moderate  quantities  of  gold  fail  to  tempt  the  pros- 
pector whose  quest  is  silver  or  copper.  Platinum,  the 
modern   precious    metal,    exists    in    Colombia    where 

11 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

emeralds  also  are  found.  The  waters  of  the  blue  Carib- 
bean cover  fortunes  in  pearls.  Chile  boasts  of  mountains 
of  pure  sulphur  and  coal  mines  that  run  far  out  under 
the  sea.  Honduras  is  the  richest  in  minerals  of  all  the 
Central  American  states.  The  asphalt  of  our  streets 
once  lay  at  the  bottom  of  pitch-black  pools  in  Venezuela 
and  Trinidad.  Travelers  to  Bolivia  are  either  teachers, 
merchants,  or  mining  experts.  Latin  America's  mineral 
supply  appears  inexhaustibly  great. 

I  Forest  Wealth. — The  forests  of  Latin  America  yield 
a  rich  variety  of  valuable  and  useful  woods.  Brazil  and 
Costa  Rica  supply  the  North  American  market  with 
mahogany,  cedar,  rosewood,  ebony,  Hgnum-vitae  and 
other  rare  materials  for  fine  furniture.  There  are  a  hun- 
dred species  of  trees,  all  of  them  remarkable  for  their 
texture  and  grain,  that  are  known  only  to  the  natives 
and  have  never  been  offered  for  sale. 
/  Latin  America  is  the  richest  of  all  countries  in  plants 
and  shrubs  of  commercial  worth.  Rubber  trees  are 
abundant  near  the  headwaters  of  the  Amazon,  notably 
along  the  Putumayo. 

This  vegetable  gum  has  become  so  valuable  of  late 
that  these  regions  are  as  coveted  as  Golconda.  Even  the 
guayule  sap,  so  nearly  akin  to  rubber,  has  become  an 
article  of  commerce. 

Agrarian. — Europe  has  set  high  store  upon  those  vast 
fertile  expanses  in  Argentina  and  Uruguay  from  which 
she  replenishes  her  larder.  Agriculture  and  grazing  are 
well  developed  on  these  pampas — the  great  granary  and 
forage  tract  of  Latin  America. 

Argentina  has  trebled  the  acreage  under  cultivation 

{ during  the  last  fifteen  years.    In  1914  there  were  eighty 

million  sheep  pasturing  on  her  uplands  and  her  herds 

of  horses,  cattle,  goats,  mules,  hogs,  et  cetera,  numbered 

43,612,000. 

12 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

What  Latin  America  Supplies  for  Us. — The  temporary 
isolation  of  central  Europe  has  taught  us  our  dependence 
on  other  countries  for  certain  commodities.  But  blot 
out  Latin  America  and  what  items  of  our  daily  lives 
would  be  touched?  Our  food,  first  of  all.  Coffee  would 
rise  to  five  dollars  a  pound  within  a  month,  because  four 
fifths  of  the  world's  supply  is  raised  in  Brazil,  Guatemala, 
Costa  Rica,  Colombia,  and  Mexico.  Brazil  is  by  far 
the  largest  coffee  planter.  She  controls  the  market  of 
the  world  and  raises  the  Mocha  that  fills  the  breakfast 
room  with  its  rich  aroma.  In  1914,  11,000,271  sacks  of 
coffee  beans  left  her  ports. 

We  cannot  sweeten  our  morning  cup  without  recalling 
our  debt  to  the  land  where  the  knotted  sugar  cane  nods 
and  sways  as  the  trade  winds  pass.  Cuba's  crop  of  sugar 
cane  is  the  greatest  in  the  world.  Porto  Rico  also  is  one 
vast  sugar  plantation,  ninety-five  miles  long  and  forty- 
five  miles  broad.  The  State  of  Pernambuco,  Brazil,  has 
forty-seven  sugar  factories.  Let  but  the  countries  around 
the  Spanish  Main  fail  to  yield  their  annual  toll,  and 
sugar  would  become  a  luxury. 

Ecuador,  Venezuela,  Brazil  and  Santo  Domingo  raise 
the  cacao  beans  that  are  refined  into  chocolate  and  cocoa 
for  us.  Guatemala  and  Nicaragua  can  offer  coffee,  sugar, 
or  fruit. 

The  vegetable  silk  that  looks  so  like  the  spinning  of 
worms,  is  made  from  the  fiber  of  a  Paraguayan  plant. 
Half  our  buttons  once  grew  on  trees  in  Colombia  and 
Ecuador.  Our  fabrics  are  colored  with  BraziHan  dye- 
woods.  Our  desserts  are  flavored  with  the  vanilla  pod 
that  drooped  over  a  Mexican  or  Peruvian  plain. 

The  farmers  of  Central  America,  Colombia  and  Vene- 
zuela marvel  that  so  many  bananas,  pineapples,  and 
breadfruit  are  consumed  in  North  America.  The  United 
Fruit  Company,  only  a  generation  ago,  taught  us  their 
value  as  staple  articles  of  food,  organized  five  states 
into  one  vast  tropical  orchard,  and  a  commercial  fleet 

13 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOH  LATIX  AMERICA 

into  an  ocean  express  service  so  that  the  ripe,  luscious, 
pulpy  and  citrous  fruits  are  only  a  fortnight  distant 
from  the  frozen  lakes  or  the  bleak  prairies  of  the  North- 
land. What  of  tobacco?  Unholy  Smoke!  The  world's 
supply  of  choice  leaf  is  grown  around  the  Caribbean. 

Fibrous  plants  of  the  hemp  family  help  us  tie  our 
bundles  and  bind  our  sheaves.  From  the  chinchona 
bark  that  grows  in  Peru  and  Bolivia,  mankind  is  supplied 
with  that  most  useful  of  all  drugs— quinine.  Bolivian 
coca  plants  have  given  the  world  cocaine.  JVIedicinal 
roots  and  barks  grow  in  profusion  in  all  Latin  America. 

Chile  gave  the  world  its  wild  potato  and  still  provides 
the  parent  stock  to  keep  American  and  Irish  tubers  from 
disease. 

Foreign  Trade.* — Commerce  provides  life  and  growth 
for  all  peoples  and  has  been  aptly  described  as  "the  life- 
blood  of  nations."  It  depends  upon  natural  resources 
such  as  we  have  described,  upon  the  energy  and  intelli- 
gence of  men,  upon  the  facilities  for  shipping,  and  upon 
relationships  with  other  parts  of  the  world. 

Mild  climates  do  not  produce  captains  of  industry  and 
the  genius  for  expansion  in  barter.  The  sons  of  hardier 
climes,  in  Latin  America  as  elsewhere,  have  been  obliged  to 
supply  much  of  the  initiative,  especially  in  tropical  Latin 
America.  They  have  improved  ports  and  waterways, 
built  docks,  railways  and  refineries;  they  have  created 
markets  and  provided  ships  that  scour  the  seven  seas. 

In  1913  the  exchange  of  products  between  Latin  Amer- 
ica and  Great  Britain  amounted  to  $640,000,000;  Ger- 
many, $410,000,000;  United  States,  $800,000,000. 

The  European  War  has  so  affected  business  with  Great 
Britain  and  Germany  that  in  1916  the  United  States  is 
not  only  the  first  trader  in  Latin  America  but  exports 
and  imports  more  than  all  other  nations  combined. 

•  Pamphlets  distributed  free  on  application  by  the  Pan-American  Union, 
Washington,  D.  C,  supply  ample  information  on  these  topics. 

14 


The  boundaiies  of  the  countries  as 
shown  by  the  different  shadings 
are  unolHcial,  the  purpose  being 
siiuply  to  give  an  approximate  Idea 
of  their  general  location. 


AREA  7,;!5  SQ.^ 

ILES 

'OPULATION    1,2 

5,835 

IMPORTS  t6, 173 

,545 

EXPOBTS  t9,S2 

,724 

TOTAL  t16,102 

2  69 

>BEA  25,000  80 

MILE3 

POPULATION  <L 

7,f04 

IMPORTS  50,77 

B,4S7 

EXPORTS  »10,4 

2,553 

TOTAL  t19,2n 

,050 

Rio  de  Janeiro 


AREA  291,500  SQ.  MILES 
POPULATION  6,000,000 
IMPORTS  *120,274,001 
EXPORTS  $144,653,312 
TOTAL  $264,927,313 


Valdivia 
P.Montt 


The  boundaries  of  the  countries  as 
shown  by  the  different  shadings 
are  unofQcial,  the  purpose  being 
simply  to  give  an  approximate  Idea 
of  their  general  location. 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

Latin  America's  international  trade  has  increased 
from  $2,000,000,000  to  $3,000,000,000  in  the  last  decade. 

Great  Britain  has  $4,000,000,000  invested  in  Latin 
American  securities  and  her  annual  dividends  amount 
to  $150,000,000. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal,  west  coast 
trade  has  been  doubled. 

If  Latin  America  were  cultivated  and  organized  with 
scientific  skill  its  output  and  income  could  be  increased 
tenfold  within  a  generation. 

Undeveloped  Resources  and  American  Capital. — The 

United  States,  as  a  result  of  the  convulsion  across  the 
Atlantic,  rises  to  first  rank  as  a  money-lending  power. 
The  year  1915  marks  the  launching  of  a  world-embrac- 
ing plan  for  securing  markets.  The  enormous  sums  of 
money  lying  in  United  States  banks  ought  to  be  loaned 
for  the  benefit  of  nations  that  are  poorer  in  capital  and 
equipment  but  rich  in  latent  resources.  Latin  America 
stands  ready  to  welcome  and  guarantee  American  invest- 
ments provided  they  can  be  freed  from  political  entangle- 
ments. North  American  bankers  have  only  recently 
bowed  before  the  inevitable  credit  system  in  which  Latin 
Americans  have  been  schooled  for  a  century.  The 
National  City  Bank  of  New  York  City  has  established 
branches  in  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Sao  Paulo,  Buenos  Aires  and 
aims  to  serve  every  important  center  such  as  Santiago 
and  Lima. 

Latin  America  as  a  Friendly  Neighbor. — The  sixteenth 
century  introduced  among  our  natural  brethren  the 
forces  that  made  for  separation;  the  twentieth  century 
opens  with  a  wise  and  generous  program  for  bringing  us 
together. 

Neither  Anglo-Saxon  nor  Latin  America  can  reach 
its  full  development  without  the  other.  Cooperation, 
based  on  mutual  respect  and  trust,  has  already  scored 

15 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

signal  triumphs  over  prejudice  and  estrangement.  A 
select  group  of  statesmen  in  both  Americas  through  the 
Pan-American  Union  and  other  international  agencies 
are  resolutely  striving  to  achieve  "that  ideal,  unselfish, 
fraternal  relationship  of  the  American  governments  and 
peoples  which  will  give  new  worth  and  a  permanent, 
acceptable  significance  to  Pan-American  relationship."* 

Latin  America  as  a  Field  for  Immigration. — While 
I  Latin  America  includes  a  trifle  more  than  one  fifth  of  the 
earth's  surface,  its  population  amounts  to  one  twentieth 
I  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  entire  globe.  It  has  less  than 
ten  persons  to  the  square  mile.  This  sparse  distribution 
has  opened  the  door  for  endless  conjecture  as  to  the 
capacity  of  Latin  America.  Many  of  the  estimates 
offered  are  without  relation  to  living  conditions.  Here 
are  a  few  culled  from  the  Report  of  Commission  I,  Con- 
gress of  Christian  Work,  Panama  1916:  "If  Colombia 
and  Venezuela  were  as  densely  populated  as  Germany 
in  1910  they  would  have  265,000,000  souls. . .  .If  Peru 
contained  the  same  number  per  square  mile  as  Japan, 
its  population  would  be  280,000,000."  We  must  re- 
member, however,  that  large  sections  of  Latin  America 
are  uninhabitable — the  mountain  ranges,  the  arid 
stretches,  the  miasma-breeding  swamps  and  forests, 
the  sand  dunes  and  the  parched  tracts  with  shallow  soil. 
This  one  fact  alters  the  case  for  Peru  and  Venezuela.  But 
there  is  no  reason  why  Argentina  should  continue  to  have 
only  seven  people  to  the  square  mile  or  that  Chile's 
population  should  remain  at  three  million  five  hundred 
thousand  when  she  boasts  of  ninety-five  million  acres  of 
tillable  land.  Tiny  Salvador  is  most  densely  peopled 
and  yet  there  is  room  within  her  borders.  Cuba  and  the 
Dominican  Republic  have  only  fifty  persons  per  square 
mile  whereas  they  could  sustain  one  hundred,  for  Porto 


*  Annals    of    the    American    Academy    of    Political    and    Social    Science, 
Philadelphia,  July,  1914. 

16 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

Rico  already  has  three  hundred  and  fifty.  A  century 
ago  Latin  America  had  a  population  of  fifteen  million; 
to-day  it  is  more  than  five  times  as  great.  Calderon,  the 
Peruvian  pubhcist,  believes  it  will  contain  two  hundred 
and  fifty  million  by  the  end  of  this  century.  Others, 
giving  free  rein  to  their  imagination,  see  Latin  America 
the  happy  home  of  a  third  of  the  human  race;  one 
speculator  makes  the  statement  that  Latin  America  can 
nourish  one  hundred  persons  per  square  kilometer  and 
thus  cater  to  a  mass  of  two  billion! 

One  fact  is  obvious,  namely,  that  there  is  more  unoc- 
cupied territor}^  in  Latiil  America  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world  accessible  to  the  white  man.  Mother 
Earth  will  feed  the  natural  increase  of  Latin  America 
and  still  have  room  for  the  emigrant  who  turns  from 
oppressive  burdens  at  home  to  seek  economic  relief  in 
a  new  land. 

Most  of  the  republics  have  adopted  a  liberal  coloniz- 
ing policy.  About  one  million  immigrants  entered  in 
1913,  of  whom  fifty-five  per  cent  remained.  Most  of 
them  came  from  Italy  and  Spain  to  Argentina  and 
Brazil.* 

A  general  exodus  from  Europe  is  confidently  expected 
after  the  war;  Latin  America  can  accommodate  them 
all.  Argentina,  southern  Brazil,  Uruguay  and  southern 
Chile  could  provide  homes  for  a  hundred  million. 

It  is  too  early  to  forecast  events  but  one  may  venture  to 
prepare  the  reader  for  a  tidal  wave  of  immigrants  surging 
against  the  hospitable  shores  of  Latin  America  in  quest  of 
peaceful  homes. 

Reasons  for  the  Neglect  of  Latin  America. — Latin 
America  was  discovered  by  Columbus  in  the  fifteenth 
century;  it  was  rediscovered  by  North  Americans  in  the 
twentieth. 


*  See  Report  of  Commission   I,   Panama   Congress  on   Christian  Work  in 
Latin  America. 

17 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOP,  LATIN  AMERICA 

True,  there  was  occasional  intercourse  between  the 
leaders  of  the  older  and  younger  republics  when  they 
framed  their  codes  and  drafted  their  constitutions,  but 
the  two  peoples  have  really  never  mingled  in  sympathetic 
relationship  until  witliin  the  past  two  decades. 

Tourist  routes  did  not  include  these  lands.  Most 
North  American  travelers  met  their  first  Latin  American 
neighbors  in  Europe  and  marveled  that  these  unknown 
countries  could  produce  such  delightful  specimens  of 
manhood  and  womanhood. 

Major  interests  in  other  quarters  of  the  globe  had 
thrown  Latin  America  into  eclipse.  Schools  and  colleges 
treated  this  portion  of  the  earth's  surface  in  rather  per- 
functory fashion  while  the  general  public  frankly  avowed 
or  naively  confessed  general  ignorance.  An  outgoing 
missionary  was  asked:  "In  what  part  of  China  is  Bogota 
situated?" 

Even  the  heads  of  business  houses  display  an  innocence 
that  furnishes  the  richest  humor.  Some  of  their  errors 
are  quite  as  costly  to  themselves  as  they  are  amusing  to 
others.  They  continue  to  send  out  large  quantities  of 
circulars  printed  in  pure  English  for  their  prospective 
customers.  Washboards,  clothespins,  garbage  cans  are 
offered  to  children  of  Nature  who  have  lived  centuries 
without  them  and  must  first  be  taught  their  use. 

Until  competition  became  keen  in  Asia  and  Africa 
there  was  very  little  thought  of  trade  with  the  Southern 
Hemisphere.  It  was  assumed  that  the  people  were  so 
poor  that  they  could  not  afford  to  purchase  sufficient  to 
warrant  profits.  In  the  early  colonial  period  Spain  had 
adopted  a  policy  of  rigid  embargo  on  all  commerce  with 
other  countries  and  many  supposed  that  this  restriction 
had  not  yet  been  removed.  The  clipper  ships  that  re- 
turned from  the  Spanish  Main  laden  with  the  commerce 
of  the  Caribbean  had  been  swept  from  the  seas  by  the 
neglect  of  the  United  States  Government  so  that  com- 
munications were  only  occasional.    From  1910  forward 

18 


'IHE  LAND  AND  ilS  POSSIBILITIES 

there  has  been  a  changed  policy.  Pan-American  com- 
mercial and  financial  conferences  are  now  established 
institutions. 

Statesmen,  likewise,  paid  scant  attention  to  the  lands 
under  consideration.  The  Latin  American  repubhcs 
were  usually  considered  as  seething  masses  of  benighted 
peoples  among  whom  intermittent  revolutions  and 
unannounced  earthquakes  kept  everybody  in  help- 
less conjecture.  Diplomatic  differences  were  dismissed 
as  bagatelles  until  their  true  significance  became 
known. 

Christian  workers  in  both  Am.erica  and  Europe  held 
aloof  from  Latin  America  for  various  reasons.  The  rise 
of  the  modern  missionary  movement  was  contempo- 
raneous with  the  birth  of  these  new  nations,  but  the  claims 
of  the  pagan  millions  in  oriental  lands  completely  over- 
shadowed the  demands  of  an  almost  unknown  region,  y/ 
The  supply  of  recruits  was  inadequate  for  the  task 
assumed  in  Lidia,  China,  Japan  and  Mohammedan  lands 
so  that  only  an  occasional  envoy  reached  Latin  America. 
Darwin  was  the  only  scientist  who  had  courage  enough  to 
express  his  doubt  concerning  the  wisdom  of  attempting  to 
evangelize  the  Fuegian  Indians  yet  many  men  and  women 
were  disposed  to  extend  his  opinion  so  as  to  include  many 
others  besides  the  Fuegians.  Darwin  afterwards  admitted 
his  error  of  judgment  and  subscribed  to  the  funds  of  the 
South  American  Missionary  Society. 

But  the  strong  deterrent  to  foreign  missions  in  Latin 
America  was  the  commonly  accepted  belief  that  the  Latin 
Americans  had  no  need  of  the  gospel  inasmuch  as  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  claimed  them  all  as  its  members 
and  kept  all  under  its  tutelage. 

This  common  view  arose  from  a  lack  of  spiritual  con- 
cern about  others;  it  was  rather  an  evasive  method  of 
facing  embarrassments  at  home  and  duties  abroad. 
Did  not  all  Latin  Americans  hear  and  have  the  gospel? 
Was  not  the  Bible  open  to  all  kindreds  of  the  earth? 

19 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Dare  anyone  suggest  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
is  not  Christian? 

This  neglect  from  which,  thank  God,  both  Europe 
and  America  are  awakening,  was  caused  by  failure  to 
realize  that  to  all  peoples  who  live  not  the  life  of  obedient 
children  of  God,  Jesus  sent  his  disciples  to  proclaim 
a  salvation  from  the  damning  results  of  sinful  iso- 
lation. 

As  we  further  inquire  into  the  moral  conditions  of  Latin 
America  we  leave  it  to  the  reader  to  determine  whether 
the  Latin  Americans  have  brought  forth  fruits  meet  for 
repentance.  The  Ecumenical  Missionary  Congress  at 
Edinburgh,  1910,  excluded  Latin  America  from  its  pur- 
view. But,  providentially,  the  Panama  Congress  on 
Christian  Work  in  Latin  America  (Feb.  10-20, 1916)  marks 
the  beginning  of  a  concerted  movement  to  make  amends 
for  the  neglect  of  centuries  by  focusing  the  attention 
and  effort  of  European  and  American  Christians  on 
Latin  America. 

The  Rising  Tide  of  Interest  in  Latin  America. — ^News- 
paper comment,  current  magazine  articles,  street  conver- 
sation, travel  lectures  and  official  bulletins  all  show  that 
we  have  adopted  a  new  attitude  respecting  Latin  America. 

Even  the  winter  cruises  of  the  popular  agencies  have 
been  modified  so  as  to  include  the  Southland,  More 
books  have  been  published  on  these  lands  during  the  past 
ten  years  than  in  the  previous  century  and  the  list  is 
constantly  growing. 

Commercial  departments  have  been  attached  to  all  the 
United  States  Embassies  and  Legations.  Some  of  our 
family  journals  have  a  special  Latin  American  section. 
Spanish  is  becoming  more  popular  as  an  elective  modern 
language  among  high-school  pupils. 

The  Panama  Canal. — Human  interest  always  quickens 
when  a  member  of  the  family  goes  abroad  to  engage  in 
a  serious  enterprise. 

20 


Ruined  Bridge, 
Old  Panama 


Muskmelons.      Larger  Than 

Footballs.     Five  Cents 

Each.     Chile 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

In  1903  the  Government  of  the  United  States  purchased 
five  hundred  square  miles  of  tropical  jungle  in  Latin 
America  and  its  location  was  just  two  thousand  miles 
south  of  the  city  of  New  York. 

On  that  land  she  proposed  to  accomplish,  through  her 
gifted  sons,  the  greatest  achievement  oi  modern  engineer- 
ing. The  task  she  set  for  herself  was  the  building  of  a 
mammoth  ship-canal  across  the  Isthmus.  The  territory 
was  knowTi  as  "white  man's  sepulcher"  and  her  first 
undertaking  was  a  problem  m  sanitation.  To  rid  the 
narrow  zone  of  yellow  fever,  malaria  and  cholera  was, 
in  many  respects,  a  far  greater  difficulty  than  to  apply 
mechanical  skill  to  refractory  earth  and  water.  Her 
success  has  been  so  complete  that  all  the  world  stands 
amazed  in  the  presence  of  a  colossal  accomplishment. 
Written  large  over  a  strip  of  land  forty  miles  long  and  ten 
miles  wide  are  the  marks  of  genius.  One  dares  to  assure 
the  reader  that  the  undaunted  spirit  of  the  American 
engineer  wiU  finally  win  over  erratic  nature.  The  land- 
sHdes  in  Culebra  Cut,  Hke  all  other  obstacles,  must  yield 
to  his  iron  mastery. 

Many  families  in  the  United  States  had  friends  or 
relatives  engaged  on  the  Canal  Zone.  Letters  to  the 
homeland  were  like  touches  of  Aladdin's  lamp. 

On  that  international  waterway  the  fleets  of  all  the 
world  salute  as  they  pass  to  their  havens  north,  south, 
east  and  west.  North  and  South  America  have  been 
separated  by  a  narrow  stretch  of  water  yet  united  by  a 
broad  bond  of  brotherhood.  The  enormous  expense 
involved  (four  hundred  million  dollars)  carries  no  re-  \y 
proach  with  it  for  it  brings  a  blessing  to  all  the  earth  and 
permits  future  generations  to  cancel  the  debt  gradually  by 
paying  fees  to  the  builders.  Meanwliile,  the  American 
people  are  developing  a  world  consciousness,  thinking 
with  the  international  mind,  and,  stirred  from  their 
complacency,  preparing  to  assist  overburdened  Latin 
America. 

21 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  European  War. — The  appalling  anned  struggle 
which  still  convulses  Europe,  a  conflict  unparalleled  in 
history,  has  had  its  direct  and  indirect  effect  upon  Latin 
America.  Great  Britain,  France,  Germany  and  Italy 
have  large  investments  in  Latin  America  and  a  large 
part  of  her  foreign  trade.  The  vessels  in  Latin  American 
ports  are  almost  all  European.  The  sudden  suspension  of 
trade  and  the  diverting  of  capital  was  keenly  felt  in  the 
dependent  lands.  Brazil's  coffee  market  suddenly  con- 
tracted; Chile's  nitrates  were  locked  up  in  a  night;  lum- 
bering ceased  in  Costa  Rica;  the  thousand  cheap  com- 
modities that  formerly  arrived  in  shiploads  from  Germany 
and  Belgium  were  no  longer  available;  ocean  transport 
became  perilous  and  costly;  and  credits  were  generally 
suppressed  when  London,  Berlin  and  Paris  ceased  to 
lend. 

In  their  painful  plight  the  Latin  American  republics 
could  only  turn  to  their  strong  sister  of  the  North  for 
succor.  Had  she  not  been  their  stanch  defender 
against  European  confederacies?  Did  she  not  bid  fair 
to  become  the  world's  banker?  Could  she  not  exchange 
commodities  with  her  sisters? 

In  the  selfsame  hour,  promoters  of  trade  in  North 
America  had  been  arri\dng  at  the  solution  of  this  perplex- 
ity, but  their  angle  of  view  was  different.  Why  not  use 
their  Canal  for  intercourse  with  their  nearest  neighbors? 
Was  it  not  logical  to  assume  that  Central  and  South 
American  commerce  ought  to  be  diverted  to  North 
America?  While  the  nations  of  Europe  were  grappling 
for  the  spoils  of  war,  should  not  America  aspire  after  the 
legitimate  rewards  of  peace  and  good  will? 

Thus,  one  of  the  secondary  results  of  the  imbroglio 
across  the  seas  has  been  the  knitting  together  of  common 
interests  in  the  two  Americas.  And,  as  nothing  heals 
the  wounds  of  neglect  but  the  salve  of  communion,  we 
believe  that  this  new  partnership  marks  the  dawn  of  a 
brighter  day  for  the  twenty-one  republics. 

22 


Tin-:  LAND  AND   ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

Trade  Expansion. — Statistics  are  of  comparatively 
little  value  as  a  proof  that  the  interchange  of  products  and 
manufactures  has  grown  enormously  since  1914,  The 
llgures  change  with  startling  rapidity.  Some  exporters 
have  already  quadrupled  their  shipments  and  the  process 
is  only  well  begun.  Enough  has  been  accomplished  to 
establish  the  trade  currents.  When  we  think  of  the  inter- 
locking interests,  the  business  letters  and  interviews,  the 
correlated  studies,  the  puzzles  of  money  exchange,  the 
banking  service  and  the  personal  touch  of  so  many  men 
in  both  continents,  we  begin  to  realize  that  two  continents 
are  strengthening  their  ties. 

Pan-American  Union. — "The  Pan-American  Union  is 
the  international  organization  and  office  maintained  in 
Washington,  D.  C,  by  the  twenty-one  American  repub- 
lics, as  follows:  Argentina,  BoHvia,  Brazil,  Chile,  Colom- 
bia, Costa  Rica,  Cuba,  Dominican  RepubUc,  Ecuador, 
Guatemala,  Haiti,  Honduras,  Mexico,  Nicaragua,  Pan- 
ama, Paraguay,  Peru,  Salvador,  United  States,  Uru- 
guay and  Venezuela.  It  is  devoted  to  the  development 
and  advancement  of  commerce,  friendly  intercourse, 
and  good  understanding  among  these  countries.  It  is 
supported  by  quotas  contributed  by  each  country,  based 
upon  the  population." 

The  Hon.  John  Barrett  is  Director  General  and  Sr. 
Francisco  Yanes,  Assistant  Director.  Although  this 
bureau  of  federated  interests  has  not  yet  completed  its 
first  ten  years  of  work,  it  has  kindled  more  enthusiasm  and 
spread  abroad  more  information  in  all  America  than  ever 
could  have  been  accomplished  by  the  republics  separately. 
Its  bulletins  furnish  the  most  effective  propaganda  in 
behalf  of  international  welfare.  As  an  educational  agency 
it  is  unsurpassed.  It  has  raised  the  standard  of  consular 
service  from  Cape  Cod  to  Cape  Horn.  It  has  promoted 
larger  intercourse  among  the  influential  elements  of  the 
hemisphere.    Statesmen,  scholars,  editors,  lecturers  and 

23 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

business  men  have  journeyed  under  its  guidance  with 
maximum  profit.  It  has  organized  the  great  official 
Pan-American  Conferences  at  Washington  (1899-1900), 
Mexico  (1901-1902),  Rio  de  Janeiro  (1906)  and  Buenos 
Aires  (1910)  at  which  many  vital  questions  were  frankly 
and  amicably  discussed. 

Chamber  of  Commerce  and  Board  of  Trade  parties 
have  counseled  with  the  Pan-American  office  before 
undertaking  their  expeditions. 

It  has  fomented  the  study  of  Romance  languages  in 
American  universities,  furnished  detailed  and  accurate 
information  to  a  host  of  colleges,  normal  and  high  schools, 
successfully  launched  English  courses  among  Latin 
American  universities,  and  filled  newspaper  colunms  and 
magazines  with  fascinating  reading  matter. 

It  paved  the  way  for  that  better  understanding  which 
culminated  in  the  A.  B.  C.  mediation,  when  Argentina, 
Brazil  and  Chile,  through  their  ambassadors,  conferred 
with  the  Chief  Executive  of  the  United  States  and  inter- 
preted the  Latin  American  attitude  toward  the  civil 
war  in  Mexico.  For  the  first  time  in  history,  Latin 
Americans  have  been  treated  as  equals  and  colleagues 
in  a  continental  relation.  We  have  not  yet  mastered 
the  whole  alphabet  of  Pan-Americanism  but  we  have 
learned  the  first  three  letters.  John  Barrett  says: 
"We  are  at  the  begkming  of  a  great  Pan-American  era. 
The  next  ten  years  are  going  to  be  Pan-American 
years." 

Missionaries  and  Visitors. — Fearful  lest  delicate  sen- 
sibiHties  might  be  offended,  official  documents  have 
omitted  all  reference  to  the  presence  and  influence  of 
Protestant  missionaries  in  Latin  America.  We  are  not 
laboring  under  any  such  constraint,  therefore  we  need  not 
ignore  or  suppress  plain  facts. 

There  are  missionaries  (men  and  women)  who  live 
and  work  in  Latin  America,  whose  supreme  purpose  is 

24 


THE  LAND  AND  ITS  POSSIBILITIES 

to  make  Christ  and  his  truth  known  to  every  dweller 
in  those  lands. 

The  best  attestation  of  the  right  and  duty  of  all  Chris- 
tian emissaries  is  found  in  the  growing  evangelical  com- 
munity which  now  numbers  more  than  275,000  souls. 

Tourists,  whose  hfe  interests  do  not  exclude  spiritual 
concerns,  have  again  and  again  declared  that  the  progress 
and  achievements  of  evangeHcal  missions  in  Latin 
America  compel  more  admiration  and  arouse  more  opti- 
mism than  any  other  phase  of  Latin  American  Ufe. 

In  proportion  to  their  numbers,  these  missionaries 
have  wielded  the  widest  and  most  beneficent  influence 
that  has  come  to  Latin  America.  With  apostolic  zeal 
and  sacrifice,  they  have  preached  the  everlasting  gospel, 
their  only  purpose  the  saving  of  men,  their  only  reward 
the  approval  of  their  Master  and  the  gratitude  of  loving 
disciples.  As  they  tell  their  plain,  unvarnished  tale  during 
one  of  their  periodical  visits  to  the  homeland,  fellow 
beHevers  in  Anglo-Saxon  America  are  stimulated  to 
strengthen  the  bond  that  unites  all  true  disciples. 

The  Christian  Point  of  View. — We  have  enjoyed  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  that  immense  territory  which  geogra- 
phers have  called  Latin  America.  It  is  as  fair  and  allur- 
ing as  any  land  of  promise.  In  its  Hfe  there  beats  the 
elastic  pulse  of  vigorous  youth.  Europe  is  its  foster 
mother.  North  America  its  neighbor.  / 

Could  we  but  borrow  the  eye  of  our  Creator  and  discern     \J 
his  high  purpose  when  he  called  Latin  America  into 
being!     And  yet — we  are   the  honored  sharers  of  his 
gracious  plans  for  the  happiness  of  all  our  fellow  men. 

Surely  something  infinitely  better  than  mineral  wealth, 
garnered  harvests,  or  daily  food  for  milHons  Hes  within 
the  design  of  God. 

We  ought  to  know  the  Latin  Americans  in  order  that 
they  and  we  may  share  his  priceless  legacy  to  the  house- 
hold of  faith. 

25 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  challenge  is  admirably  put  in  the  words  of  E.  C. 
Colton  from  the  platform  of  the  Panama  Congress  on 
Christian  Work:  "Shall  partnership  and  mutual  profit 
mark  business  relations  while  negative  criticism,  aloof- 
ness, suspicion  and  neglect  characterize  our  relations  to 
one  another  in  the  highest  concerns  of  mankind? 

*V\re  nitrate  deposits,  grain  harvests,  rubber  forests 
and  sugar  plantations  of  more  consequence  than  that  for 
which  Jesus  Christ  lived, died,  rose  again  and  ever  liveth?" 

What  is  to  determine  the  moral  and  spiritual  destiny 
of  Latin  America? 


26 


Monuments  on  Easter  Island 


The  Throne  of  the  Incas 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

The  history  of  Latin  America  is  a  chequered  scroll, 
replete  with  romance  and  tragedy,  so  fascinating  that 
the  greatest  of  American  historians  chose  this  theme  for 
his  masterpiece. 

Prehistoric  Monuments. — The  origin  of  its  earliest 
people  still  remains  an  unsolved  problem  in  ethnology. 
Much  speculation  has  revolved  about  the  primitive  races. 
The  mists  of  tradition  cover  all  that  shadovvy  period. 
In  the  highlands  of  Peru  near  Lake  Titicaca  there  are 
massive  relics  of  a  civiUzation  which  appeared  quite  as 
wonderful  to  the  Incas  as  it  seems  to  ourselves.  At 
Tiahuanaco  and  ISIachepicchu  the  immense  blocks  of 
quarried  rock  suggest  the  builders  of  the  Pyramids.  The 
huge,  unsightly  stone  idols  on  Easter  Island,  off  the 
Chile  coast,  might  be  set  up  in  Alaska  without  attracting 
attention.  The  archseologist  need  not  limit  his  opera- 
tions to  Egypt  and  the  Euphrates  Valley  for  in  various 
parts  of  Latin  America  there  are  vestiges  of  a  titanic 
age.* 

The  striking  resemblance  between  the  Latin  American 
Indian  tjq^es  and  the  Chinese,  Japanese  and  Malays  has 
given  rise  to  a  number  of  clever  theories  which  many  hold 
though  none  can  prove.  After  all,  the  chief  message  of 
those  dim  years  is  the  antiquity  of  man  as  a  rational 
being  with  powers  to  reach  upward  after  truth  and  Mfe. 

Ancient  Grandeur. — Of  the  Aztec,  Toltec,  Maya  and 
Inca  civiUzations  we  have  more  enduring  monuments 
and  clearer  records.  Europe  and  the  United  States  have 
provided  at  least  ten  standard  works  on  this  theme.  J 

*  Consult  Hiram   Bingliam,   "Across  South  America." 
t  See  Appendix  A. 

27 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Prescott's  histories  afford  us  a  fair  idea  of  the  ruling 
passions  that  dominated  the  men  of  that  epoch.  He  says: 
"The  Inca  government  was  theocratic,  paternal,  social- 
istic. Then,  as  to-day,  the  Indians  dwelt  in  huts  of  sun- 
dried  bricks  or  reeds;  the  king  and  his  gods  in  palaces  of 
stone."  There  was  an  impassable  gulf  between  the  ruler 
and  the  ruled.  The  monarch  and  the  nobility,  by  divine 
right,  claimed  the  toil  of  multitudes.  Their  religion  was 
a  nature  cult  mingled  with  fetishism,  their  priesthood 
a  superior  class,  their  religious  feasts  wild  orgies  and 
V^  their  votive  offerings  a  costly  bribe  to  their  deities. 

The  legends,  superstitions  and  customs  of  early  Latin 
America  prove  the  spiritual  kinsliip  that  obtained  among 
our  forefathers  whether  Norse,  Teuton,  Celtic,  Latin 
or  Indian. 

The  Home  of  the  Indian. — But  the  fundamental  truth 
that  must  be  kept  as  a  background  for  our  study  is  the 
fact  that  the  basic  stock  of  Latin  America  was  pure 
Indian.  When  Columbus  first  set  eyes  on  them  there 
must  have  been  at  least  sixty  milHon  within  the  region 
we  now  describe.  Millions  of  them  still  remain  unchanged 
and  untamed  amid  their  wild  surroundings.  Others  have 
been  only  superficially  afi'ected  by  their  contact  with 
other  races.  The  Yaquis  of  Mexico,  the  San  Bias  of 
Colombia  and  the  Guaranis  of  Paraguay  still  retain  their 
savage  ferocity. 

The  Quechuas  and  Aymaras  of  Peru  and  Bolivia, 
though  yoked  to  modern  surroundings,  still  display  a 
fiery  gleam  of  the  eye  and  would  troop  hilariously  to  the 
gilded  Temple  of  the  Sun,  were  it  restored.  Hidden  away 
in  the  shadows  of  Amazonian  forests  are  uncounted 
tribes  so  truculent  and  fierce  that  the  white  man  lets 
them  severely  alone  lest  a  cloud  of  poisoned  arrows  be 
his  greeting.     Some  of  them  are  said  to  be  cannibals. 

Tribal  warfare  was  common  among  them.  Neither 
Cortes  nor  Pizarro  could  have  conquered  vast  empires 

28 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

had  they  not  taken  advantage  of  feuds  to  win  allies  for 
their  raids. 

The  fortunes  of  war  gave  ascendancy  to  the  stronger 
groups  under  wise  chieftainship.  An  era  of  peace  brought 
advance  in  art  and  improvement  in  government  until 
an  empire  like  that  of  the  Incas  embraced  a  close  organ- 
ization of  ten  million.  They  had  their  national  Capitol, 
their  central  temple, causeways,bridges  and  canals.  They 
cultivated  their  whole  domain  with  scientific  skill  and 
easily  extended  their  borders  by  diplomacy.  The  Manco 
Capac,  their  emperor,  whose  heavenly  descent  none 
dared  question,  was  the  Solomon  of  his  day. 

Since  labor  was  abundant  and  cheap  because  it  was 
impressed,*  extensive  public  works  were  made  possible. 
The  laborers  toiled  up  the  steep  mountain  sides  under  a 
broiling  sun  with  baskets  of  earth  to  build  terraces  and 
irrigation  ditches  which  doubled  the  production  of  the 
soil. 

Varying  T3rpes. — Except  for  military  purposes  the 
Araucanians  had  no  organization.  The  Chibchas  of 
Colombia  excelled  in  the  arts  of  peace  and  were  the  most 
scholarly  of  the  tribes  in  South  America,  but  the  Caras  of 
Ecuador  were  a  restless,  warHke  tribe  most  of  whom 
remain  unassimilated  to  the  present  day. 

Until  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  neitner  a  white 
man  nor  a  black  man  had  ever  set  foot  among  the  inhab- 
itants of  Latin  America.  The  sons  of  her  soil  were  aborig- 
ines in  stages  of  development  varying  from  rude  savagery 
and  barbarism  to  civilization. 

The  Pure  Indian  Basis  of  Latin  America. — ^A  large 
number    of    modern    Latin  Americans    mildly    protest 

*  The_  "mita"  or  forced  day  labor  by  large  groups  still  survives  as  a 
custom  in  Peru.  The  mayor  of  a  town  can  not  only  demand  the  work  of  a 
gang  of  unpaid  laborers  but  can  compel  them  to  furnish  their  own  food  as 
well. 

29 


THE  LIVIXG  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

against  the  prominence  that  is  sometimes  attached  to 
their  pedigree.  So  much  has  been  said  and  written 
about  the  bad  Indian  and  so  httle  about  the  good  Indian 
that  they  fear  the  implications. 

But  Indian  blood  is  no  bar  sinister.  Mexico  is  not 
averse  to  the  enjoyment  of  independence  because  it  was 
achieved  through  the  leadership  of  an  Indian.  The 
Chihan  has  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  his  indomitable 
Araucanian  ancestors. 

A  century  of  education  has  produced  wondrous  uplift 
of  aboriginal  tribes.  There  is  a  living  fountain  of 
virtue  in  their  blood  especially  if  it  be  kept  unmixed. 
The  untutored  savage  is  not  a  criminal;  he  develops 
his  worst  side  in  contact  with  the  vices  of  other  peoples. 
David  Brainerd,  William  Penn,  Bishop  Whipple  as  well 
as  the  Spanish  Las  Casas  and  the  Portuguese  Anchieta 
pay  high  tributes  to  the  Indian  as  they  found  him  in  his 
native  haunts  with  his  savage  nature  unvitiated.  Enough 
successful  work  has  been  done  in  our  homeland  to  prove 
that  many  tribes  and  individuals  respond  nobly  to  the 
touch  of  sympathy  and  the  appeal  of  wisdom.  Beneath 
their  dusky  bosoms  beat  true  hearts.  The  copper- 
colored  rover  is  neither  the  idealized  hero  of  Fenimore 
Cooper  nor  the  caricature  painted  by  an  unscrupulous 
trader. 

He  is  virile,  brave  to  recklessness,  dignified  and 
impassive  before  disaster,  fierce  and  implacable  in  his 
wrath,  patient  under  burdens,  treacherous  to  his  foes, 
loyal  to  his  friends,  with  a  robust  sense  of  justice  that 
makes  him  scowl  and  writhe  under  tyranny.  Pure-blooded 
Indians  have  risen  to  the  highest  posts  in  the  lands  where 
their  forefathers  ralhed  painted  warriors  with  piercing 
battle  cries.  A\Tiile  courtesy  demands  that  we  guard 
our  references  and  cast  no  stones,  we  cannot  away  with 
the  fact  that  the  strongest  strain  in  Latin  American 
blood  is  Indian.  What  our  own  progenitors  were  in  the 
sixteenth  century  ought  to  keep  us  both  humble  and 

30 


r'TZ-C^NECAS  OR 
"AGONIAN5 


■^iVahgans  or 

^S*    TiERRADELrUEGIANS 


]\Iap  Showing  Original  Location  of  the  Indian  Races  or  Stocks 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

fair-minded.     The  foulest  crimes  perpetrated  on  Latin 

American  soil  were  not  the  work  of  the  Indian. 

In  the  Report  of  Commission  I  of  the  Panama  Congress 

we   find    the   following   rough   estimate   of  the  present 

population  of  Latin  America: 

Whites 18,000,000 

Indians 17,000,000 

Negroes 6,000,000 

MLxed  White  and  Indian 30,000,000 

ISILxed  White  and  Negro 8,000,000 

MLxed  Negro  and  Indian 700,000 

East  Indian,  Japanese  and  Chinese         300,000 


80,000,000 
While  these  figures  are  devoid  of  scientific  accuracy, 
they  represent  the  calculations  of  men  who  have  studied 
the  situation  closely  and  have  been  obliged  to  supply 
the  information  that  census  returns  fail  to  give. 

We  cite  them  here  to  show  the  wide  diffusion  of  Indian 
blood  among  Latin  Americans  of  to-day. 

The  Coming  of  the  White  Man. — ^The  discovery  of 
North  America  by  Europeans  ushered  in  a  period  of 
growth  and  improvement  for  the  whole  continent;  the 
three  centuries  following  the  landing  of  Columbus  in 
Salvador  are  marked  by  massacre,  rapine  and  heartless 
abuse  of  the  Indian.  "In  the  sixteenth  century  the 
Spanish  race  conquered  the  various  kingdoms  of  America. 
It  founded  new  societies,  destroyed  ancient  empires,  and 
created  cities  in  the  wilderness;  and  in  the  following 
century  it  made  innumerable  laws  and  sent  forth  many 
warlike  expeditions.  Between  one  period  and  the  next 
— the  rude  epic  of  conquest  and  the  tame  existence  of 
the  civilized  colonies — a  strange  contrast  is  to  be  ob- 
served. 

"In  the  first  period  cupidity  may  be  said  to  be  the  deus 
ex  machina  of  the  great  epic  acted  by  the  conquerors; 

31 


V 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

there  is  bloody  and  barbarous  conflict  with  the  unknown 
territory,  the  hostile  Indians,  the  mysterious  forests,  the 
enormous  rivers  and  the  desert  that  swallows  whole 
legions.  This  marvelous  age  is  followed,  in  the  silent 
cities,  by  a  monotonous,  pious,  puerile  existence. 

"Exhausted  by  heroism,  the  race  declines,  mingles  itself 
with  the  Indians,  imports  black  slaves  from  Africa,  and 
obeys  its  inquisitors  and  viceroys.  Gray  and  unrelieved 
is  this  period,  known  as  'The  Colony'  for  the  unstable 
societies  of  America  reflect  the  Hfe  of  Spain;  while  the 
first,  that  of  the  Conquest,  is  an  age  of  greed  and 
bloodshed,  in  which  the  impetuous  adventurers  of  the 
Peninsula  roam  from  Mexico  to  Patagonia,  realizing,  in 
the  words  of  de  Heredia's  sonnet,  their  'brutal  and 
C.^eroic  dream.'  "* 

Partition  of  Territory. — On  the  return  of  Columbus  to 
Spain  after  his  portentous  discovery,  Pope  Alexander 
VI  (a  Spaniard  by  birth)  issued  a  buU  dated  May  3,  1493, 
whereby  all  the  lands  discovered  or  discoverable  in  the 
New  World  should  be  divided  between  Spain  and  Port- 
ugal. A  line  of  demarcation  was  drawn  one  hundred 
leagues  (three  hundred  miles)  west  of  the  Azores;  all  the 
heathen  lands  to  the  east  of  that  meridian  were  to  belong 
to  the  king  of  Portugal  and  all  to  the  west  fell  to  the 
king  of  Spain,  t  Navigators  and  adventurers  swarmed 
westward;  within  ten  years  the  West  Indies  and  the 
Atlantic  coast  Une  from  Mexico  to  the  River  Plate  were 
touched,  and  Portuguese  sailors  had  drifted  to  the  shores 
of  Brazil.  Although  Portugal  claimed  Brazil  she  was 
too  busy  developing  trade  with  India  to  allow  her  sons 
to  colonize  it,  consequently  the  settlement  of  Latin 
America  fell  largely  into  the  hands  of  Spain.  From  His- 
paniola  (Haiti),  colonization  extended  to  Cuba,  Vene- 
zuela, Costa  Rica  and  Nicaragua.    Later,  when  the  center 

*  F.    Garcia    Calderon,   "Latin   America,"   p.   45. 

t  This  was  afterwards  modified  by  the  Convention  of  Tordecillas  and 
drawn  three  hundred  and  seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Cape  de  X'erde  Islands. 

32 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

of  operations  was  transferred  to  Panama  (1519),  after 
Balboa's  discovery  of  the  Pacific,  expeditions  penetrated 
into  the  interior  of  Colombia  (1536). 

Seizure  of  Mexico. — Scouting  parties  reported  to  the 
Spaniards  on  the  Aztec  Empire  in  Central  Mexico.  Her- 
nado  Cortez  with  five  hundred  and  fifty-three  soldiers 
of  fortune  as  daring  as  himself  boldly  invaded  this  domain 
in  1519  and  by  a  shrewd  combination  of  valor,  strategy, 
espionage,  and  cruelty  wrested  the  scepter  from  Mon- 
tezuma's grasp.  In  1521  the  Aztec  Empire  fell  to  Spain. 
Following  his  advantage,  in  1525  Cortez  extended  his 
conquest  to  the  lands  now  known  as  Guatemala,  Hon- 
duras and  Salvador.  Truthfully  did  he  exclaim  to  his 
ungrateful  monarch:  "I  am  the  man  who  has  given 
your  Majesty  as  many  provinces  as  your  ancestors  left 
you  cities." 

Conquest  of  Peru. — A  few  years  later,  Indians  from  the 
interior  brought  startling  tales  of  another  realm  quite 
as  great  and  glorious  as  the  Aztec  Empire.  They  vaguely 
hinted  that  the  dominions  of  the  Incas  quite  surpassed 
anything  known. 

Fired  by  this  dream,  a  small  party  of  three  hundred  and 
ten  freebooters  decided  to  brave  all  dangers  and  march 
south  to  explore  and  conquer.  Their  captain  was  Fran- 
cisco Pizarro,  who  had  been  a  swineherd  in  Extremadura 
in  northwestern  Spain,  a  friend  of  Balboa,  and  as  hardy 
an  adventurer  as  ever  risked  his  destiny  on  the  point  of  a 
sword.  Leaving  Panama  in  1531  they  worked  their  way 
southward,  at  times  by  sea,  at  times  by  land;  and,  over- 
coming obstacles  that  would  have  daunted  most  brave 
spirits,  they  finally  reached  the  broad  roadway  that  led 
to  the  heart  of  the  Inca  kingdom. 

After  a  series  of  fierce  assaults  in  which  they  were  aided 
by  their  horses,  their  firearms,  their  armor  and,  most  of 
all,  by  the  superstition  of  the  Inca  soldiers,  they  stormed 

33 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  citadel  of  Cuzco,  took  the  sacred  Atahualpa  captive, 
and,  after  demanding  the  highest  ransom  ever  paid  ill 
precious  metal  for  a  human  life,  foully  betrayed  their 
pledge  and  slew  their  hostage. 

The  year  1532  found  Pizarro  in  complete  possession 
of  Peru,  directing  the  campaigns  of  his  lieutenants 
who  subdued  the  outlying  portions  of  the  vast  Inca 
empire  so  that  Ecuador  on  the  north,  BoUvia  on 
the  east  and  Chile  on  the  south  had  all  fallen  to  his  arms 
by  1540. 

Twenty  years  later  colonies  had  been  established  in 
Paraguay  and  the  La  Plata  region  so  that  the  subjuga- 
tion of  New  Spain  was  complete. 

Character    and    Motives    of    the    Conquistadors. — 

The  men  who  conquered  this  vast  kingdom  were  strang- 
ers to  knightly  honor.  They  were  rude  champions  of 
might  and  products  of  their  own  time.  They  spared  not, 
they  wept  not,  they  paused  not  until  their  enemies 
groveled  at  their  feet.  They  represented  the  Crusading 
chivalry  of  Spain  no  more  than  an  outlaw  embodies  his 
country's  best  traditions.  Glutted  with  gore,  surfeited 
with  plunder,  intoxicated  with  power  and  jaded  with 
bestiality  they  weakened  and  sank  amid  the  ruin  of  a 
people  they  had  shackled.  In  the  largest  of  over-sea 
colonial  empires,  and  in  the  face  of  the  largest  oppor- 
tunity ever  granted  to  a  race  of  victors,  their  moral 
failure  appears  all  the  more  lamentable. 

Some  one  has  summarized  their  motives  in  the  words: 
"gold,  glory  and  gospel."  They  longed  after  treasure, 
thirsted  for  fame  and  were  upborne  by  the  firm  belief 
that  their  triumphs  were  to  be  further  glorified  by  the 
conversion  of  pagan  hordes  to  the  most  holy  and  apostolic 
Roman  Catholic  faith.  Priests  and  monks  accompanied 
every  expedition,  ministered  to  the  spiritual  needs  of 
these  doughty  saints  militant  and  straightway  introduced 
the  religion  of  papal  Spain. 

34 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

Colonizing  Policies. — These  were  the  days  when  Spain 
reached  the  zenith  of  her  splendor,  "When  Spain  moved, 
the  world  trembled."  Yet  Philip  II,  in  spite  of  his  unchal- 
lenged supremacy  on  land  and  sea,  found  it  impossible 
to  supply  the  new  possessions  with  wise  rulers  and  had  to 
content  himself  with  the  best  that  his  court  afforded . 
But  he  proceeded  to  organize  military  occupation,  and 
founded  the  viceroyalties  of  Peru,  Buenos  Aires  and  the 
Council  of  the  Indies.  He  transplanted  all  the  machinery 
of  Spanish  Government  and  State  religion  to  new  Spain, 
and,  ere  he  finished  his  reign,  had  shaped  Spain's  colonial 
policy. 

He  concentrated  all  power  in  the  throne,  restricted 
aU  privilege  to  the  conquerors,  allowed  the  Church  to 
exercise  complete  control  in  all  spiritual  affairs  and  re- 
garded his  vanquished  subjects  as  a  mass  of  human 
resources  to  be  exploited  at  will. 

Portugal,  although  less  rigid  in  her  colonial  adminis- 
tration, insisted  on  an  absolute  monarch  and  an  absolute 
church  that  would  safeguard  the  individual  against  a 
foreign  foe  or  an  ahen  faith.  But  discipline  by  Spain 
was  ironclad,  foreign  officials  were  held  to  strict  account 
by  the  home  government  and  an  intricate  system  of  check- 
ing corruption  and  misrule  was  devised  by  which  the 
foreign  secretaries  could  "learn  the  truth  by  listening 
to  liars." 

Minute  instructions  were  furnished  to  all  civil  and 
military  officials  abroad,  martinets  were  set  over  depart- 
ments, full  reports  were  exacted  periodically,  and  the 
sword  of  Damocles  was  suspended  over  every  head. 
The  Latin  intrepidity  of  the  Conquest  was  speedily  fol- 
lowed by  the  Latin  genius  for  thorough  organization  from 
an  imperial  center. 

The  four  viceroyalties  of  Peru,  New  Granada,  La  Plata 
and  New  Spain  were  divided  into  audiencias,   called    j/ 
captaincies  in  Brazil.     They  were  vast  grants  of  land 
that  conferred  upon  the  captain  all  the  prerogatives  of 

35 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

a  feudal  lord  in  medieval  Europe.  Here  began  the 
vicious  system  of  land  tenure  that  still  hampers  the  pro- 
gress of  Latin  America  and  so  stands  in  the  way  of  real 
democracy  and  a  middle  class.  The  captain  general 
might  be  compared  to  the  seignior  of  New  France  or  to 
the  governor  of  a  large  state. 

Under  him  were  constituted  the  goberjiadores  and 
alcaldes.  Local  government  was  further  subdivided 
and  supervised  through  the  appointment  of  intendants 
over  smaller  provincial  territories. 

The  cahildo  or  "ayuntamiento"  was  the  municipal 
or  county  Council  while  the  highest  tribunal  in  the  colo- 
nies was  the  Real  Audiencia  or  Royal  Advisory  Court. 
That  the  governed  peoples  should  have  any  voice  in  their 
rule  was  never  dreamed  until  two  centuries  later. 

Church  Foundations. — His  "most  Catholic  Majesty" 
PhiUp  of  Spain,  Royal  Patron  of  the  Church  at  home  and 
abroad,  adopted  measures  that  would  extend  the  Latin 
faith  to  the  uttermost  bounds  of  his  over-sea  territory. 
He  understood  fully  what  a  mastery  over  a  nation's 
life  can  be  gained  through  the  sacerdotal  office.  The 
priests  and  nuns  touched  the  conquered  peoples  at  the 
fount  of  life  and  controlled  the  springs  of  conduct.  Hence 
he  was  liberal  in  his  grants  of  land  to  the  Orders,  and 
placed  no  restrictions  upon  their  power  provided  they 
helped  to  assimilate  the  masses  of  pagans  and  did  not 
interfere  with  government  and  revenue.  His  successors 
were  no  less  zealous  in  favoring  the  national  Church. 
The  vision  of  Augustine  seemed  realized  in  that  procession 
of  myriads  crowding  to  the  altars  of  Catholicism.  Able 
clergy  were  selected  for  service  abroad  and  effort  was 
made  to  amalgamate  the  activities  of  governors  and 
ecclesiastics.  Spanish  priests  {curas)  were  pro\dded 
for  the  civil  and  miHtary  officials  while  catechists  and 
missionaries  carried  their  propaganda  to  the  Indians  and 
those  of  mixed  blood.    The  Dominicans  labored  heroically 

36 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

for  missionary  conquests  among  the  scattered  tribes  in 
the  interior,  the  Franciscans  and  Jesuits  usually  minis- 
tered to  the  organized  churches. 

Early  Roman  Catholic  Missionaries. — "The  Francis- 
cans were  the  first  to  follow  the  discovery,  a  band  of 
twelve  under  Bernardo  Boil  reaching  Haiti  as  early  as 
1493,  where  one  of  them,  Marchena,  the  friend  of  Colum- 
bus, built  the  first  church  in  the  New  World.  Three 
Flemish  brothers,  led  by  Pedro  de  Gante,  preceded  in 
Mexico  the  great  Franciscan,  Valencia,  who  with  his 
apostolic  retinue,  landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  toiled  barefoot 
to  the  Capitol,  where  he  was  officially  recognized  by 
Cortes  in  1524.  The  Dominicans  were  established  in 
Santo  Domingo  as  early  as  1510.  Two  of  their  leaders. 
Pedro  de  Cordoba  and  Juan  Garces  were  the  pioneers 
in  what  is  now  Venezuela.  There  they  built  the  first 
monastery  and  celebrated  the  first  mass  in  South  America 
in  1513,  and  suffered  martyrdom  through  Indian  ven- 
geance stirred  up  by  the  violent  treachery  of  Spanish 
pearl-fishers."* 

"Like  the  'conquistadores'  the  Spanish  clergy  had 
three  motives  in  deahng  with  the  natives.  These  may  be 
summed  up  in  'destruction,  construction  and  instruc- 
tion.' "t 

To  many  of  these  heroic  pioneers  no  words  of  praise 
are  misapplied.  They  counted  not  their  lives  dear  unto 
themselves,  as  they  faced  famine,  disease,  privation, 
persecution  and  martyrdom.  With  the  accommodating 
genius  of  their  Church  they  speedily  adapted  its  doctrines, 
rites  and  symbols  to  fit  the  religious  experience  and  tradi- 
tion of  the  fetish  worshipers  and  polytheists.  This 
process  evolved  a  type  of  CathoHcisrri  which,  in  some  of 
its  teachings  and  many  of  its  practices,  is  quite  distinct 
from  Roman  Catholicism  in  modem  Europe  and  the 
United  States. 

*  Francisco  Lopez  de  Gomara,  "Historla  General  de  las  Indias,"  p.  337. 
t  Shepherd,   "Latin  America,"  p.   53. 

37 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  .\M1:RICA 

But  the  essential  feature  of  Roman  Catholicism — 
absolutism — was  not  lacking.  "Unless  one  has  over  them 
all  authority,  he  has  none,"  wrote  an  ecclesiastic,  "and 
if  they  are  not  held  under  and  subjected,  they  cannot  be 
held  in  subjection  at  all." 

By  appealing  to  the  credulity  of  the  superstitious 
natives,  admitting  their  youths  to  the  priesthood,  canon- 
izing their  heroes  and  heroines  and  organizing  popular 
feasts,  the  clergy  were  able  to  accomplish  their  mission 
without  resorting  to  force  (which  was  not  permitted  by 
the  military  authorities). 

Conversion  of  the  Indians. — Whole  tribes  were  led 
into  the  faith  and  governed  like  outdoor  convents.  The 
Indians  came  in  large  numbers  to  the  "entries,"  "con- 
quests of  souls,"  and  "reductions."  Their  tame  sub- 
mission may  have  been  gratifying  to  their  spiritual 
rulers  but,  as  a  shrewd  student  remarks:  "For  whatever 
they  received  they  paid  in  the  sacrifice  of  their  liberty, 
their  individuality  and  their  initiative." 

Later,  when  the  Inquisition  was  installed  in  Lima  and 
the  iniquities  of  Torquemada  were  extended  in  the  autos- 
da-fe  that  stained  American  soil,  the  iron  grasp  of  Rome 
tightened  on  the  whole  of  Latin  America  where  its  grip 
on  the  faithful  is  still  too  strong  for  kindness. 

Latin  America,  Roman  Catholic. — By  the  end  of  the 
eighteenth  century  the  new  dominions  were  provided 
vnth  all  the  machinery  of  a  monopohzing  hierarchy. 
XTathedrals,  churches,  chapels,  monasteries,  nunneries, 
asylums,  hospitals  and  orphanages  covered  all  the  land; 
the  jeweled  miter  of  the  archbishop  flashed  in  the  pro- 
cessions of  every  capital;  the  cassock  of  the  priest,  the 
cowl  of  the  monk  and  the  veil  of  the  nun  were  common 
sights  in  all  the  towns  and  villages. 

The  second  guiding  fact  to  keep  before  us  is  the  aU- 
pervading  religious  influence  of  Roman  Catholicism  in 

38 


Descendants  of  the  Inca  Indians  in  Peru  and  Bolivia 


THE  HERrrAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

Latin  America.  It  is  the  strongest  link  with  colonial 
days.  Peninsular  supremacy  afterwards  ceased  but 
Romish  domination  remained.  It  will  persist  for  a  long 
time.  Even  after  Church  and  State  shall  have  been 
separated  (Brazil's  example  will  be  followed  by  her  sister 
states  sooner  or  later)  the  memorials  of  Roman  Catholi- 
cism will  be  found  deeply  rooted  in  the  subsoil  of  these 
nations  for  the  trends  of  thought  and  action  which  Roman 
Catholicism  inculcated  are  a  part  of  their  subconscious 
life. 

Three  Centuries  of  Iberian  Rule. — To  appraise  all  the 
factors  in  this  new  regime  and  write  a  fair  and  candid 
estimate  of  its  value  to  mankind  is  both  a  dehcate  and  a 
difficult  task. 

Spain  and  Portugal  found  a  fair  field  for  sublimated 
despotism  in  these  broad  possessions  across  the  sea. 
*'The  masterful  whites  simply  climbed  upon  the  backs 
of  the  natives  and  exploited  them."*  Tribal  government 
gave  way  to  monarchy  and  ofiicialdom.  Perhaps  the 
worst  feature  introduced  by  the  European  bureaucrats 
was  the  "insolence  of  office"  and  the  arrogant  contempt 
for  a  vanquished  and  tributary  race.  But  oppressive 
rigor  and  shameless  abuse  of  privilege  brought  their 
own  corrective  and  finally  ousted  the  last  henchman 
of  Spain.  Latin  America  was  only  a  quarter  of  a  century 
behind  North  America  in  obtaining  her  political  independ- 
ence. 

Unquestionably,  Spain  and  Portugal  lifted  the  colonies 
to  a  higher  national  plane;  they  transformed  the  untutored 
savage  into  a  unit  of  civilization.  "To  say  nothing  of 
the  civilized  system  of  jurisprudence,  the  letters  and  the 
religion  which  have  made  the  peoples  of  the  continent 
members  of  the  great  Western  European  family,  the  intro- 
duction of  new  and  valuable  animals,  grains,  and  fruits 
raised  the  level  of  average  well-being  among  the  surviving 

*  E.  A.  Ross,  "South  of  Panama,"  Preface. 

39 


i'llE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIX  AMERICA 

inhabitants.  Horses,  asses,  sheep,  goats,  pigs,  chickens, 
pigeons,  wheat,  barley,  oats,  rice,  oHves,  grapes,  oranges, 
sugar  cane,  apples,  peaches  and  related  fruits,  and  even 
the  banana  and  cocoa  palm  were  introduced  by  the 
Spaniards."* 

But  the  relentless  severity  of  their  rule  decimated  the 
population.  The  Putumayo  atrocities  of  our  own  day 
are  but  a  faint  suggestion  of  that  tragic  epoch  when  the 
taskmaster's  scourge  lashed  the  bare  backs  of  Indian 
slaves  in  mines,  on  mountains,  rivers  and  plantations. 
Of  ten  million  Inca  Indians  only  two  million  lived 
through  the  first  century  of  serfdom. 

Champions  of  the  Slave. — ^Amid  the  horrors  of  this 
dark  age,  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  are  thrown  into 
reHef  as  ministers  of  mercy  and  agents  of  progress.  Many 
of  them  were  moved  with  deep  pity  as  they  witnessed 
the  barbarities  practiced  upon  the  defenseless  aborigines. 

Las  Casas  wrote  a  \igorous  protest  to  the  court  at 
Madrid.  But  the  friars  often  proceeded  with  better 
intent  than  judgment.  To  reheve  the  pressure  on  the 
red  man  they  introduced  the  black  man  into  Latin 
America;  to  extend  the  faith  among  stubborn  tribes 
they  did  not  balk  at  persecution. 

First  Schools. — They  obliterated  almost  all  the  culture 
of  the  Aztecs,  Mayas,  Toltecs  and  Incas  in  the  first 
fury  of  iconoclasm  but  proceeded  at  once  to  found 
their  schools  in  the  larger  centers  for  the  training  of 
selected  youth.  The  Jesuit  discipline  was  applied  to  the 
classes  through  education;  the  masses  were  given  occa- 
sional instruction  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  on 
Sundays.  Twelve  universities  were  founded  during  the 
colonial  period,  six  of  them  before  the  organization  of 
Harvard  (1636).  The  first  and  largest  of  these  were  the 
Royal  and  Pontifical  University  of  St.  Paul  in  Mexico, 

*  Thomas  C.  Dawson,  "South  American  Republics." 

40 


THE  HERITAGE  OP  A  PEOPLE 

and  the  Greater  University  of  San  Marcos  in  Lima — both 
established  by  royal  decree  in  1551. 

Religious  P*ress. — The  first  printing  press  in  the  New 
World  was  set  up  at  Mexico  in  1535  by  the  Church 
authorities  and  its  first  publication  was  a  tract  entitled 
"A  Spiritual  Ladder  to  Reach  Heaven."  In  1584  they 
published  a  catechism  in  the  Quechua  and  Aymara 
dialects. 

The  monks  were  the  scientists,  historians,  authors, 
artists  and  teachers  of  their  day.  Their  aim  was  to  train 
and  perpetuate  the  ruling  class  of  prelates,  lawyers, 
doctors,  scribes,  schoolmasters  and  civil  servants  who 
fitted  neatly  into  a  cut-and-dried  system.  Brazil  was 
more  backward  in  such  matters  but  the  Jesuits  had  a 
number  of  monastic  schools,  of  which  their  college  at 
Bahia  was  the  most  famous. 

Christian  Elements  Contributed  by  the  Roman  Cath- 
olic Church. — The  foundations  of  a  new  faith  in  a  new 
land  were  laid  before  the  mother  Church  was  shaken 
to  its  base  by  the  Reformation.  The  Spanish  Church 
wliich  converted  the  Indian  was  the  corrupt  and  error- 
ridden  medieval  body  that  had  forsaken  its  Bible  to 
cover  over  the  truth  with  tradition  and  cunning  inven- 
tion. The  Latin  American  Church  was  kept  in  complete 
isolation;  not  even  the  purifying  rides  of  the  Counter- 
Reformarion  ever  reached  her  sons. 

Consequently,  ^\athout  design,  the  Church  of  Latin 
America  has  preserved  for  us  the  salient  features  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Until 
the  evangelical  preacher  appeared,  most  Larin  Americans 
knew  nothing  of  that  mighty  upheaval  that  had  con- 
vulsed Christendom  and  set  it  forward  by  turning  its 
gaze  backward  and  upward. 

Nevertheless,  if  we  analyze  the  crude  dogma  of  that 
Latin  American  Church  and  study  the  common  observ- 

41 


THE  LIVING  CllRiSr  FUK  LATIN  AMERICA 

ances  of  its  members,  what  residual  germs  of  truth  do 
we  find? 

The  cardinal  Christian  truths,  as  commonly  believed 
and  taught  at  that  time,  adapted  to  the  child-mind  of  a 
primitive  people  and  applied  to  their  simple  daily  living 
are  all  there — the  Trinity,  sin,  atonement,  salvation, 
holiness  of  heart  and  mind,  the  divine  Redeemer,  the 
sanctifying  Spirit,  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  the  union  of 
behevers  in  a  mystical  body.  The  stately  hymnology 
which  we  cherish  and  the  saintliness  which  we  revere 
in  Bernard,  St.  Thomas  and  St.  Francis  came  in  music 
and  in  sermon. 

The  theocracy  of  the  Incas  gave  way  to  the  authority 
of  God  through  his  servants  and  bloody  rites  were  super- 
seded by  the  thousand  acts  of  devotion  which  translated 
reverence  and  petition  into  ILxed  habits. 

All  over  Latin  America,  wherever  we  trace  the  footsteps 
of  that  Church  which  sought  to  evangelize  the  pagan 
hordes,  we  find  at  least  the  Christian  conception  of  life. 

What  does  exist  in  conjunction  with  it  and  in  spite  of 
it  will  be  further  discussed.  Ere  we  pass  on,  a  sense  of 
justice  bids  us  pause  to  praise  the  fortitude,  sincerity, 
diligence  and  perseverance  of  the  men  who  first  brought 
the  rudimentary  knowledge  of  Christ  and  the  Bible  to 
Latin  America. 

The  Dawn  of  the  Nineteenth  Century  in  Latin  America. 

— Let  us  sketch,  in  rapid  outline,  the  course  of  events 
that  culminate  in  the  revolt  of  an  entire  continent  against 
its  political  lords.  The  Spanish  and  Portuguese  noble^ 
and  grandees  degenerated  in  the  colonies  where  a  servile 
race  bowed  to  their  lightest  wish.  In  spite  of  losses  to 
the  Enghsh,  the  French  and  the  Dutch  (Trinidad,  Barba- 
does,  Honduras,  Haiti  and  Guiana)  and  in  defiance  of 
the  bold  buccaneers  that  sailed  the  Spanish  Main,  Spain 
and  Portugal  had  retained  their  hold  on  all  their  trans- 
atlantic colonies.   But  misrule  was  reaching  the  straining 

42 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

point  everywhere.  The  comparatively  few  whites  had 
intermarried  with  the  Indian  women  and  their  numerous 
progeny  had  arisen  to  withstand  the  poHtical  and  social 
injustice  that  galled  them  to  desperation.  The  "mestizos" 
and  crioUos  far  outnumbered  the  original  stock  and 
chafed  under  the  yoke  of  impHed  inferiority.  Liberty 
tugged  hard  at  the  leash  of  authority.  The  Indians  had 
already  triumphed  over  the  Spaniards  and  Portuguese 
by  gradually  absorbing  them  into  their  blood.  To  rid 
themselves  of  tyrant  rule  and  thus  complete  their  victory 
was  the  supreme  wish  of  the  victims.  Beyond  emancipa- 
tion they  never  carried  their  thought  for  so  great  an  idea 
iilled  their  mental  horizon. 

In  our  own  times,  the  love  of  freedom  is  the  one  out- 
standing common  ideal  that  marks  the  kinship  of  the 
two  Americas.  A  century  ago  it  was  the  only  point  of 
resemblance.  Colonial  mismanagement  in  each  case 
fanned  the  flame  of  discontent. 

The  Rise  of  Republicanism  in  Europe. — Both  they 
and  we  owe  the  inspiration  of  self-government  to  a  com- 
mon source.  It  was  not  enough  that  there  should  be  a 
healthy  recoil  from  oppression.  Some  new  principle 
and  program  of  human  government  must  supplant  the 
time-honored  monarchies.  Europe,  fertile  soil  for  reform, 
furnished  the  seed  that  has  germinated  in  many  strange 
climes. 

The  Renaissance  aroused  men  from  their  intellectual 
torpor  and  the  awakening  could  never  have  stopped 
short  of  the  Reformation  while  men  retained  their  religious 
interest.  Although  the  father  of  the  French  Revolution 
has  never  been  clearly  identified,  that  movement  had 
many  sponsors  and  ancestors.  Undoubtedly  the  repub- 
lican institutions  of  John  Calvin  at  Geneva  exercised  a 
marked  constructive  effect  after  the  carnage  had  ceased 
in  Paris.  But  fire  was  kindled  and  fuel  supplied  by 
writers    such    as   Lamartine,    Rousseau,    Voltaire    and 

43 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Montesquieu.  Nothing  spreads  so  fast  or  penetrates 
so  far  as  a  dynamic  idea.  The  North  American  colonies 
had  declared  themselves  independent  in  1776  and  the 
verdict  of  arms  had  been  given  in  their  favor.  The 
watchwords  of  the  French  Revolution,  "Liberty,  Equal- 
ity, Fraternity"  became  passwords  among  the  advanced 
thinkers  of  Latin  America  who  had  broken  through  the 
blockade  which  Spain  sought  to  throw  around  her  children 
by  suppressing  the  circulation  of  all  Hterature  from 
Europe  and  the  United  States. 

The  Fathers  of  Latin  American  Independence. — The 
able  pamphleteers,  Francisco  Miranda  (1752-1816)  and 
Antonio  Narino,  spread  the  doctrines  of  freedom  among 
all  the  thinking  classes  from  Mexico  to  Chile.  These 
men  of  thought  were  the  heralds  of  the  men  of  action 
whose  puissant  swords  soon  won  the  coveted  freedom 
for  their  fellow  men. 

Simon  Bolivar,  Jose  de  San  Martin,  Bernardo  O'Hig- 
gins,  Hidalgo,  Morelos,  Juarez  and  Sucre  are  names 
enshrined  in  the  hearts  of  all  Latin  Americans.* 

They  were  aided  by  sympathizers  within  the  RoyaHst 
ranks,  encouraged  by  the  sympathy  and  aid  of  both 
Great  Britain  and  the  United  States  and  favored  by  the 
lessened  resistance  of  Spain  on  account  of  the  Peninsular 
War  then  waged  against  Napoleon.  Events  conspired 
to  turn  the  tide  of  battle  in  favor  of  the  patriots.  Hidalgo 
declared  the  independence  of  Mexico  in  1810;  in  1826 
eight  sovereign  states  had  been  erected.  They  were: 
The  United  Mexican  States,  the  Central  American  Feder- 
ation, Great  Colombia  (which  included  Colombia  and 
Venezuela),  the  United  Provinces  of  the  River  Plate 
(Argentina  and  Uruguay),  Paraguay,  Peru,  Bolivia,  and 
Chile.  Of  the  Spanish  American  republics  Cuba,  Porto 
Rico  and  Panama  have  been  emancipated  within  our 
generation. 

*  See  Appendix  B. 

44 


THE  HERITAGE  OP^  A  PEOPLE 

The  United  States  of  Brazil. — The  same  boon  was 
obtained  in  Portuguese  America  but  by  quite  another 
series  of  events.  Colonial  administration  in  Brazil  was 
marked  by  the  same  restrictions  on  trade,  the  same  des- 
fX)tic  methods  and  the  same  high-handed  favoritism  of 
the  few.  The  colony  had  been  divided  into  the  Northern 
and  Southern  provinces  but  trafSc  between  the  two 
portions  was  not  allowed.  Just  as  Great  Britain  conceded 
to  Canada  -without  bloodshed  what  the  seaboard  colonies 
had  won  from  her  by  rebellion,  so  Portugal  resolved  on  a 
policy  of  leniency  and  HberaHty  ^ith  the  Brazilians. 
The  occupation  of  Portugal  by  the  French  army  in  1807 
compelled  the  fugitive  royal  family  and  court  to  make 
Brazil  their  safe  retreat.  Joao  (John  VI)  was  able  to 
see  flagrant  abuses  with  his  own  eyes  and  hear  with  his 
own  ears  the  grievances  of  his  BraziHan  subjects.  The 
result  was  that  he  introduced  a  number  of  reform  meas- 
ures and  raised  Brazil  to  coordinate  rank  with  the  pigmy 
kingdom  on  the  banks  of  the  Tagus.  When  the  way  was 
open  for  his  return  in  1821  he  left  his  second  son,  Dom 
Pedro,  regent.  The  ambitious  prince,  afterwards  Dom 
Pedro  I,  saw  his  opportunity  to  rise  on  the  tide  of  popular 
clamor  for  separation  from  the  mother  country  when 
the  Portuguese  Court  demanded  that  Brazil  return  to 
her  former  status.  Accordingly  in  1822  he  anticipated 
the  demands  of  the  people  by  sounding  his  cry  "Independ- 
ence or  Death"  and  offering  himself  to  them  as  Emperor 
of  Brazil.  Dom  Pedro  of  the  House  of  Braganza  gave 
Brazil  a  liberal  constitution  but  was  obHged  to  abdicate 
in  favor  of  his  son,  Dom  Pedro  II. 

Had  Brazil  decided  to  remain  monarchical  there  is  no 
doubt  that  Dom  Pedro  II  would  have  been  an  acceptable 
ruler  but  the  pressure  of  exultant  republicanism  aU  over 
the  continent  was  too  strong. 

From  the  date  of  his  majority,  1841,  until  1889  he 
reigned,  but  was  forced  to  resign  when  Brazil  was  de- 
clared a  republic  and  the  royal  family  were  "requested" 

45 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LAITX  AMERICA 

to  seek   residence    outside    the    borders    of   their   old 
colony. 

Federation  or  Autonomous  States? — The  patriots 
addressed  themselves  seriously  to  the  herculean  task  of 
making  stable,  autonomous  nations  out  of  a  mass  of 
slaves  whose  blood  was  mixed  in  many  states  with  that 
of  the  rapidly  multipl>ing  negro. 

There  was  a  strong  conservative  tendency  in  many  of 
the  leaders  of  the  nascent  republics.  Whatever  was 
serviceable  in  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  systems  and 
not  subversive  of  popular  control,  they  retained  until 
they  could  devise  something  better.  Bolivar  was  in  favor 
of  a  zollverein  of  all  the  liberated  states  but  San  Martin 
successfully  combated  the  idea  and  carried  the  principle 
of  separate,  self-governing  republics. 

Great  faith  and  brave  hearts  had  the  generals  of  the 
reconstruction  period.  They  had  to  set  forth  in  an  untried 
craft  upon  an  unknown  sea.  The  one  unifying  national 
bond  was  a  lusty  patriotism.  But  their  treasuries  were 
empty,  their  population  scattered  over  large  expanses, 
their  foreign  commerce  undeveloped.  Law  and  order 
were  not  yet  restored  in  all  the  outlying  districts,  bandits 
roved  along  the  intersecting  paths  for  there  were  few 
public  roads.  Everything  was  in  the  experimental 
and  embryonic  stage.  The  bulk  of  the  people  were 
ignorant,  poor  and  tumultuous. 

The  incubus  of  three  centuries  of  slavery  was  a  heavy 
clog  on  progress.  In  theory  the  state  was  to  be  supreme 
but  her  rivals  were  not  yet  suppressed.  The  Caudillo, 
or  mihtary  leader,  kept  this  new  society  in  turmoil.  In 
1828  Uruguay  secured  its  independence  of  Brazil.  Be- 
tween 1829  and  1831  Colombia  broke  up  into  three  fac- 
tions and  finally  settled  down  between  the  two  new 
republics  of  Venezuela  and  Ecuador.  From  1838  to 
1847  the  Central  Americans  disputed  over  their  bound- 
aries so  that  the  original  Federation  was  eventually  divi- 

46 


THli  HERIIAC;!-:  OF  A  PEOPLt: 

ded  into  the  five  little  republics  of  Costa  Rica,  Nicaragua. 
Salvador,  Honduras  and  Guatemala. 

Wise  leaders  proceeded  with  caution  in  Chile  so  that 
she  has  not  altered  the  Constitution  adopted  in  1833 
nor  lost  any  of  her  territory. 

Drafting  of  Constitutions. — Constitutions  patterned 
after  that  of  the  United  States  were  adopted  by  all.  The 
Latin-European  law  and  Church  were  taken  over  without 
more  ado. 

They  had  been  woven  into  the  very  life  of  the  Colony 
and  any  attempt  to  separate  them  would  have  resulted 
in  laceration.  Moreover,  there  was  no  masterful  spirit 
who  could  offer  a  more  excellent  way.  The  Church  had 
in  the  main  been  an  ally  of  the  aristocratic  Royalist 
party  but,  true  to  its  genius,  it  swerved  in  its  allegiance 
just  in  time  to  be  swept  into  power  on  the  rising  wave  of 
nationahsm.  It  adroitly  managed  to  insert  into  the  con- 
stitution of  each  new  state  a  clause  which  made  the 
Roman  Catholic  Apostolic  the  official  church  and  excluded 
all  others.  The  first  blow  struck  against  freedom  in  the 
land  of  the  free  was  the  deed  of  intolerant  clericals  who 
could  not  miss  the  chance  of  seizing  temporal  power. 
The  Church  also  contrived  to  shape  the  immigration 
poHcies,  and  exclude  all  entries  from  Protestant  Europe. 

Many  economic  fallacies  as  well  were  foisted  upon 
these  helpless  repubhcs.  The  idolized  military  chiefs 
who  were  thrust  into  office  were  not  as  skillful 
in  court  as  they  had  been  in  camp.  Political  science 
had  not  been  studied  by  these  knights  of  the  lance 
and  saber  so  that  Latin  America  bears  occasional 
evidence  that  European  texts  on  such  subjects  were 
sadly  misapplied.  "We  are  the  dupes  of  Adam  Smith. 
He  ought  to  have  written  'The  Poverty  of  Nations' 
for  Latin  America ! "  protested  a  South  American 
senator.  Good  government  means  the  perfect  accord 
between  a  people  and  a  good  code  of  laws;  the  regulations 

47 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

that  fitted  other  countries  were  copied  with  startling 
consequences  in  some  of  the  states. 

These  governments  were  confronted  with  an  under- 
taking far  more  intricate  than  the  reorganization  of 
New  England. 

Contrast  with  Anglo-Saxon  Beginnings  in  America. — 

Enough  has  been  outlined  to  suggest  the  radical 
differences  between  the  colony  in  Anglo-Saxon  and  Latin 
America.  The  former  was  the  outgrowth  from  a  good 
beginning;  the  latter,  to  quote  from  Professor  Ross,  was 
"the  victim  of  a  bad  start."*  The  exodus  from  England 
in  the  sixteenth  century  was  a  reUgious  movement. 
The  Pilgrims  and  the  Puritans  sought  a  new  land  where 
liberty  of  conscience  and  of  speech  might  compensate 
them  amid  tlie  dangers  and  privations  of  a  pioneer  exist- 
ence. They  brought  their  wives  and  Httle  ones  with  them 
and  founded  homes  that  have  been  the  models  of  a  con- 
tinent. They  perpetuated  on  American  soil  the  free 
institutions  of  their  mother  country.  They  brought  the 
Bible  with  them,  built  meeting  places  everywhere  and 
wove  the  teachings  of  Jesus  into  the  warp  and  woof  of 
their  Hves.  They  developed  great  men  and  women  in 
their  small  schools.  They  drove  the  Indians  back  into 
the  wilderness  or  made  treaties  of  peace  with  them  but 
did  not  attempt  to  assimilate  them  by  intermarriage. 
Among  them  brotlierly  love  was  strong  and  community 
interest  paramount.  Intercourse  with  Europe  and  trade 
were  fostered.  They  left  behind  them  the  monarch, 
the  priest,  and  the  browbeating  landlord ;  in  their  stur.dy 
strength,  grappling  with  the  rigors  of  a  cold  climate, 
they  wrought  out  a  commonwealth  in  which  Uberty 
was  regnant  and  Christianity  supreme. 

What  a  vivid  contrast  is  presented  in  the  darker 
picture  of  Latin  American  occupation! 

The  mad  rush  from  Spain  and  Portugal  was  impelled 

*  E.  A.   Ross,  "South  of  Panama,"  Preface. 

48 


THE  HERITAGE  OF  A  PEOPLE 

by  the  craving  after  gold,  fame  and  adventure.  They 
came  on  the  wings  of  the  wind — bands  of  reckless  rovers 
without  wives  or  children.  These  freebooters  never 
entertained  a  serious  thought  about  the  high  concerns 
of  the  soul  though  they  enjoyed  the  sanctions  of  a  reUgion 
of  showy  form  and  relentless  force  in  which  gross  immo- 
rality and  merciless  cruelty  were  no  bar  to  orthodoxy. 
They  dealt  hghtly  with  their  pledged  word  and  regarded 
neither  the  right  of  man  nor  the  honor  of  woman.  What 
treasure  they  captured  became  a  withering  curse  to  the 
spoilers.  The  Iberian  overlords  sought  to  debase  the 
Indian  by  forced  marriage  and  slavery;  by  the  selfsame 
process  the  whites  were  devitalized  and  submerged. 

The  sword  seemed  mightier  than  the  pen  to  these 
bandits;  later,  ignorance  strangled  New  Spain.  They 
paved  the  way  for  an  absolutist  monarchy  which  rolled 
up  grievances  untold.  They  took  everything,  they  gave 
back  Httle  that  ennobled.  In  the  mild,  enervating  climate 
of  the  New  World  they  languished.  They  brought  with 
them  no  high  ideal,  no  Bible;  they  founded  few  honorable 
families;  they  contributed  almost  nothing  Christian  in 
thought  or  example.  Their  partners,  the  clergy,  added 
to  the  burden  by  imposing  upon  the  helpless  peoples  the 
absolutist   reUgion   of   a   proud   and   persecuting   race. 

Why  did  God  permit  such  outrages?  Reverse  history; 
imagine  William  Perm  in  Peru  and  Pizarro  in  Philadelphia. 
What,  then,  might  have  been  your  lot  and  mine? 


49 


CHAPTER  III 

LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

Modern  Latin  America  is  the  product  of  a  century  of 
republican  institutions  that  followed  three  centuries  of 
foreign  exploitation.  To  give  the  student  a  general  view 
of  political,  economic,  social,  and  religious  organization, 
we  offer  a  few  vignettes  of  what  one  sees  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica in  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century.  Concrete 
illustrations  are  more  numerous  from  the  lands  where 
Presbyterian  missionaries  are  at  work,  viz.,  JVIexico, 
Guatemala,  Venezuela,   Colombia,  Brazil  and   Chile. 

Instability  of  Governments. — In  some  of  the  republics, 
progress  has  been  rapid  and  uninterrupted  since  they 
gained  their  freedom.  In  others,  tribal  factions  and  polit- 
ical plots  have  threatened  cohesion .  The  insurrectionary 
spirit  dies  hard  among  Latin  Americans  for  they  seem  to , 
have  a  genius  for  disintegration  and  a  weakness  for 
dictators.  Many  disturbances  have  been  fomented 
by  outsiders.  The  pretexts  for  family  quarrels  seem 
tri\'ial  and  ridiculous  to  North  Americans  until  they 
interpret  them  as  real  issues  in  the  lives  of  struggling  men. 

When  we  remember  their  antecedents,  and  recall  how 
little  preparation  for  self-government  some  of  these 
people  have  enjoyed,  we  cease  to  marvel  that  revolu- 
tions are  chronic  in  some  sections. 

As  a  rule,  the  semicivilized  Indian  is  the  most  restless 
and  seditious.  Where  he  has  been  incorporated  into 
the  common  blood  as  in  Chile,  Boli\ia, Colombia,  Ecuador 
and  Peru,  the  situation  is  easier  to  control.  Paraguay 
has  been  notorious  as  a  revolutionary  hotbed.  In  her 
prolonged  faction-lights  of  thirty  years  she  lost  so  many 
men  that  the  women  outnumbered  the  opposite  sex  five 

50 


^fcsu'.  r^r^fW 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

to  one.  Venezuela  has  had  fifty-two  uprisings  within  a 
century.  Nobody  knows  just  how  many  were  stirred 
by  foreign  investors.  Haiti  and  Central  America  have 
frequent  outbursts,  but  the  majority  of  the  republics  are 
working  out  their  problems  in  peace.  Mexico  had  a  stable 
government  for  over  thirty  years  before  the  resignation  of 
Porhrio  Diaz  and  the  armed  struggle  of  1913.  Costa 
Rica  has  been  undisturbed  for  half  a  century.  Chile  has 
never  had  more  than  a  civil  war  in  1891.  The  La  Plata 
states  have  been  borne  on  a  steady  stream  with  only 
occasional  eddies.  Brazil  has  had  only  one  serious 
convulsion  since  1889.  Latin  America  has  fixed  a  record 
for  international  harmony.  After  the  holocaust  in  Europe 
we  shall  hear  less  of  Latin  American  revolutions.  More 
men  were  killed  and  more  property  damaged  in  the  single 
struggle  around  Verdun  in  1916  than  in  all  the  revolu- 
tions of  a  century  in  Latin  America. 

But  all  these  uprisings  are  a  proof  that  men  are  advanc- 
ing and  defending  new  principles.  A  revolution  is  a  mil- 
itary referendum. 

Congressional  Rule. — In  each  self-governing  state 
there  are  to-day  all  the  instruments  of  republican  adminis- 
tration. Both  the  chamber  of  deputies  and  the  senate 
are  elective,  as  is  the  president.  The  cabinet,  however, 
rather  than  the  house  majority  holds  the  balance  of 
power.  Cabinet  crises  and  the  overthrow  of  a  political 
faction  sometimes  occur  over  questions   of   patronage. 

The  state  railway  may  run  as  usual  when  a  round- 
house superintendent  is  deposed  but  the  appointment 
of  his  successor  may  derail  a  government. 

Political  Parties. — Politics  is  the  serious  game  of  every 
Latin  American  who  has  not  developed  a  taste  for  other 
profitable  or  hazardous  pursuits.  He  receives  this  bent 
from  his  cradle,  from  his  Church  and  from  his  antagonist 
on  the  scene.    His  fondness  for  argument  and  his  facility 

51 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

of  expression  thrust  him  into  the  maelstrom  of  debate  and 
struggle.  Every  political  lion  has  his  attendant  pack  of 
jackals.  Corruption  at  elections  is  general,  but  such 
sharp  practices  are  not  unknown  elsewhere.  Generally 
speaking,  the  Church  is  on  one  side  of  politics  and  every- 
one else  on  the  opposite  side.  In  pursuance  of  her 
pretensions  to  temporal  power,  the  Church  has  always 
insisted  on  ruling  the  world  wherever  men  are  meek 
enough  to  refrain  from  protest.  But,  from  the  beginning 
of  independent  Hfe  in  the  republics,  there  have  been  illus- 
trious statesmen  who  have  viewed  the  aggressions  of  the 
Church  with  disfavor  if  not  with  alarm,  and  who  have 
employed  their  talent,  their  energy  and  their  fortunes 
to  combat  her  ambitious  schemes.  The  Church  party 
is  the  Conservative,  or  reactionary  wing  of  politics;  the 
Radicals  are  her  hereditary  foes  whose  sworn  purpose  is  to 
banish  the  Church  forever  from  every  public  institution. 
Between  the  two  extremes  are  the  Liberals  who  are  less 
violent.  The  Church  intermeddled  so  much  in  colonial 
affairs  and  in  the  launching  of  the  nations  that  she  over- 
stepped the  bounds  of  prudence  and  arrayed  a  host  of 
enemies  against  her.  The  Jesuit  order,  in  particular,  was 
so  intrusive  and  so  underhanded  that  Guatemala  expelled 
it  from  her  borders.  That  Order,  in  Latin  America 
as  well  as  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  has  maliciously 
engendered  discord  for  selfish  ends.  So  marked  is  this  line 
of  theological  cleavage  in  public  affairs  that  a  deputy's 
attitude  on  the  tariff  may  depend  on  his  convictions 
respecting  the  sacraments. 

Men  are  growing  weary  of  this  doctrinal  division  and 
are  clamoring  for  clear-cut  platforms.  Each  party  or 
fragment  of  a  party  has  its  guiding  principles  and  the 
growing  tendency  is  toward  Uberalism  and  cooperation. 

The  Public  Chest. — The  Indian  Government  was  pater- 
nalism, the  colonial  was  favoritism,  the  modern  is  nepo- 
tism.    There  is  no  regular  Civil  Service  Corps  so  that 

52 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

politicians  control  emoluments  and  distribute  the  public 
oliices  among  their  partisans,  relatives  and  friends. 
"What  quaiitications  do  you  possess  for  the  post  of 
mathematical  teacher?"  was  demanded  of  an  aspirant, 
and  his  bold  reply  was,  "I  am  an  intimate  friend  of  Mr. 
X!"  The  youth  of  Latin  America,  instead  of  bestirring 
themselves  in  some  productive  and  proiitable  work  that 
might  develop  the  resources  of  the  country,  lounge  about, 
Micawberlike,  "waiting  for  something  to  turn  up" 
in  some  fiscal  office.  This  cuts  the  nerve  of  all  initiative 
on  the  one  hand  and  needlessly  swells  the  public  expense 
on  the  other.  It  preserves  a  class  of  Latin  Americans  who 
might  disappear  without  detriment  to  their  native  land 
— the  insufferable  coxcombs  who  never  rise  beyond  the 
parasite. 

Land,  Labor  and  Capital. — Capital,  as  we  usually  under- 
stand the  term,  enters  Latin  America  from  Europe  and 
America.  The  older  lands  have  surplus  gold  to  invest 
in  unexploited  fields.  Latin  America  is  paying  interest 
on  the  wealth  of  others;  she  is  not  amassing  it  for 
herself. 

Land  tenure  in  Latin  America  is  one  of  the  cliief 
obstacles  to  advancement.  The  soil  is  in  possession  of 
the  government,  of  the  rehgious  orders,  or  of  individual 
owners  whose  holdings  are  enormous.  The  large  estates 
held  by  the  aristocracy  of  Latin  America  came  to  their 
forefathers  as  grants  from  the  Crown  or  were  seized 
from  the  Indians  by  marauding  parties.  Five  per  cent 
of  the  Latin  Americans  own  ninety-five  per  cent  of  the 
land.  There  are  no  small  farmers.  A  poor  man  can  never 
dream  of  acquiring  a  m.odest  tract  with  a  tiny  home  he 
can  call  his  own.  The  land  is  not  for  sale,  and,  even  if 
it  were  in  the  market,  he  never  could  save  enough  from  his 
meager  wages  to  pay  for  a  small  plot.  The  only  cheap 
lands  which  the  governments  are  opening  to  settlers  are 
better  adapted  for  syndicates  who  can  grow  coffee,  rubber 

53 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

and  fruit,  or  raise  cattle  and  sheep  in  large  numbers.  In 
other  parts  there  are  homesteads  such  as  we  find  on  our 
western  plains  but  there  are  no  roads,  bridges  and  rail- 
ways to  move  a  harvest.  In  1914  the  Government  of 
Chile  (where  seven  per  cent  of  the  population  ovms  all 
the  arable  land)  offered  to  establish  colonists  on  one-hun- 
dred-acre bush  farms  in  the  South.  The  offer  included 
a  shack,  a  yoke  of  oxen,  a  horse,  farm  implements  and  seed 
for  the  first  crop.  The  nearest  railway  was  thirty  miles 
distant,  the  nearest  doctor,  fifty,  the  nearest  settlement, 
twenty.  The  trail  led  across  mountain  torrents,  over 
steep  mountains  to  a  block  of  uncleared  forest.  Would 
you  accept? 

In  Brazil  there  is  a  more  liberal  system  of  apportioning 
land,  and  small  owners  are  found  everywhere  in  the 
interior.  In  the  Argentine  Republic  farm  labor  is  better 
paid,  profits  are  loosely  shared,  and  the  lot  of  the  average 
worker  is  a  happier  one.  Altogether,  land  companies 
by  evading  the  law  and  bribing  for  special  concessions, 
have  been  the  worst  offenders.  Societies  such  as  the 
German  Mennonites  have  founded  community  colonies 
like  those  of  Arkansas  in  the  early  days  of  the  Southwest, 
and  with  their  varied  gifts  and  trades  have  made  the 
region  self-serving. 

Size  of  Estates. — The  area  of  estates  in  Latin  America 
is  astonishingly  large.  To-day  one  hears  of  single  pro- 
prietors or  companies  owning  300,000,  400,000,  and 
even  500,000  acres.  In  the  newer  territories  to  the  south, 
there  are  holdings  of  a  million-and-a-quarter  acres.  In 
Chile  there  are  farms  a  league  in  width  that  extend  from 
the  Andes  to  the  sea — one  hundred  miles.  The  writer  has 
visited  a  mountain  ranch,  whose  owner  stated  that  a  good 
horseman  would  require  five  days  to  ride  from  end  to  end 
of  his  demesne.  Imagine  a  journey  of  an  entire  day  in  a 
train  without  leaving  the  broad  acres  of  a  single  pro- 
prietor! 

54 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

According  to  Spanish  law,  an  estate  must  be  divided 
among  the  cliildren  on  the  death  of  the  testator.  This 
would  tend  to  reduce  the  size  of  properties,  but  so  strong 
is  the  passion  for  land  control,  that  the  heirs  usually 
manage  through  some  bank  or  money  lender,  to  retain 
the  original  title  in  the  name  of  some  member  of  the 
family.  Thus  the  process  of  di\'ision  is  slow,  and  unless 
hastened  by  specific  legislation,  cannot  keep  pace  with 
the  demands  of  a  growing  people.  Maximum  tillage, 
frugahty  and  economy,  are  not  practiced  on  the  estan- 
cias  or  large  estates. 

Absentee  Landlordism. — Economic  conditions  are  fur- 
ther aggravated  by  the  fact  that  the  owners  of  large 
farms  and  ranches  Hve  in  the  capitals  of  the  country — 
in  Bogota,  Quito,  Santiago,  Buenos  Aires,  Sao  Paulo, 
San  Jose,  Caracas,  or  Guatemala  City.  The  country 
has  no  charm  for  him  except  for  a  short  vacation.  There 
are  no  spiced  drinks,  daily  papers,  poKtical  gossipers, 
no  plaza  with  its  band  of  music,  no  modern  conveniences 
to  which  he  has  become  enslaved  in  the  garish  life  of  the 
larger  cities.  He  has  no  interest  in  local  improvements, 
in  the  maintenance  of  roads,  schools,  hospitals,  or  the 
enforcement  of  law  and  order.  He  prefers  to  spend  his 
earnings  in  the  nation's  metropolis,  living  luxuriously, 
or  to  scatter  his  surplus  broadcast  in  European  cities. 
His  farm  is  managed  for  him  by  a  clever  and  sometimes 
unscrupulous  superintendent,  who  makes  periodical 
reports,  and  turns  over  the  cash  balance.  Some  of  these 
landlords  have  not  seen  their  properties  for  years.  The 
result  is  stagnation,  neglect,  and  worst  of  all,  a  lowered 
moral  level  and  a  growing  tendency  to  crime  and  law- 
lessness in  the  rural  districts,  abandoned  to  their  fate 
in  the  hands  of  hireUngs  who  are  ignorant,  uneducated 
and  unprogressive  because  they  have  no  share  in  profits 
and  nothing  at  stake  except  their  lives  and  a  few  paltry 
household  efi'ects. 

55 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

This  state  of  affairs  is  often  a  goad  to  insurrection. 
The  Mexican  Revolution  which  exploded  in  1913  was 
mainly  a  land  war. 

Farm  Laborers. — From  the  earliest  times  the  Con- 
querors had  their  encomiendas,  or  shifts  of  Indian 
slaves,  who  were  given  over  to  their  custody  with  large 
grants  of  land.  To  till  the  soil,  and  to  supply  all  the  neces- 
sities of  their  baronial  chiefs  was  the  privilege  of  the  red 
man  and  his  family. 

Though  chattel  slavery  is  now  prohibited  by  the  law 
of  these  republics,  peonage,  which  remains,  is  its  dark 
shadow.  There  are  at  least  twenty  millions  of  day 
laborers  in  Latin  America.  Says  Professor  Ross,  "One 
may  read  a  bushel  of  the  books  visitors  have  written  on 
these  countries  without  ever  learning  themomentousbasic 
fact  that  from  the  Rio  Grande  dowTi  the  West  Coast  to 
Cape  Horn,  free  agricultural  labor  as  we  know  it  does 
not  exist."* 

The  commonest  forms  of  contract  labor  are  lati- 
fundia  in  Peru  and  inquilinaje  in  Chile.  The  subject 
races  are  made  easy  victims  by  their  avaricious  employers. 

"There  is  no  chance  for  the  agricultural  laborer  to 
become  an  owner  of  land.  Four  days  in  each  week — how 
like  the  'boon-days'  the  feudal  tenant  owed  his  lord! — he 
is  bound  to  work  at  a  wage  of  from  five  to  ten  cents  a  day, 
in  return  for  the  use  of  a  plot  for  his  house  and  truck 
patch.  Of  course,  such  pitiful  earnings  do  not  suffice 
for  the  needs  of  his  family,  so  he  is  obhged  to  run  into 
debt  to  his  amo  or  master  for  money  or  supplies. 
Since  he  can  never  work  off  this  debt  and  the  law  does 
not  permit  him  to  leave  the  estate  until  it  is  liquidated, 
the  peon  becomes  virtually  a  serf  bound  to  work  all  his 
life  for  a  nominal  wage.  He  can  change  employers  only 
in  case  some  one  pays  his  debt  and  this  binds  him  to  a 
new  master."    (Ibid.,  p.  149.) 

*  E.  A.  Ross,  "South  of  Panama,"  p.   144. 

56 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

"At  Chilian,  (Chile)  the  inquilino  has  the  use  of  six 
acres,  pasture  for  five  animals  and  wages  of  sixteen  cents 
a  day  with  food.*  He  is  to  furnish  three  hundred  days 
of  work  a  year  at  this  price.  The  free  laborer  gets  from 
twenty  cents  a  day  in  winter  up  to  fifty  cents  in  sum- 
mer ....  The  inquilino  is  free  to  leave  the  estate  but, 
owing  to  his  feudal  attachment  to  the  master's  family, 
he  tends  to  remain  in  the  hut  of  his  forefathers,  even 
when  he  could  better  himself  by  removing.  Newspapers, 
town  influence  and  labor  agitation  are  undermining  this 
attachment,  but  it  will  take  at  least  a  generation  to  make 
the  iiiquilinos  keen  pursuers  of  their  own  interest.  There 
is  no  tenancy,  no  breaking  up  of  big  estates  and  no  chance 
for  an  inquilino  to  become  independent."  f  What  is 
wanted  all  over  Latin  America  is  a  new  spirit  which 
brings  a  zest  for  labor,  and  is  founded  on  the  dignity  and 
honor  of  honest  toil.  The  Spaniard  was  too  proud  and 
the  Indian  too  shiftless  for  menial  tasks.  We  cannot 
change  their  ancestry  but  we  can  change  their  ideas. 
Some  have  alleged  that  the  peon  class  is  as  happy  and 
contented  as  the  Scotch  crofter  or  the  Irish  peasant, 
but  intelligent  legislators  are  busy  interfering  with  such 
happiness  for  the  ultimate  benefit  of  a  class  too  easily 
satisfied. 

Banking  and  Currency. — The  new  situation  produced 
by  independence,  brought  a  demand  for  financial  experts 
to  reorganize  the  resources  of  these  new  states  -They  are 
still  working  assiduously  on  a  problem  that  has  per- 
turbed the  best  of  monetary  speciaHsts.  But  banks  were 
introduced  early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  so  that  the 
golden  doubloons  and  the  clinking  pesetas  gave  way  to  the 
draft  and  bill  of  exchange.  The  desire  for  speculation 
was  strong  in  a  new  country.    Issue  after  issue  of  paper 

*  The  daily  ration  of  an  inquilino  consists  of  breakfast,  a  handful  of 
parched  wheat;  dinner,  a  plate  of  boiled  beans  or  stew;  supper,  a  pound 
of  coarse  bread. 

t  E.  A.  Ross,  "South  of  Panama,"  p.  158. 

57 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

money  was  launched  so  that  most  of  the  republics 
to-day  are  doing  domestic  business  with  a  badly  depre- 
ciated currency.  "You  need  not  talk  to  me  of  Latin 
America,"  interrupted  a  business  man,  "I  know  what  you 
fmd  there  —  revolutions,  earthquakes  and  bankruptcy!" 

In  Colombia  the  value  of  the  dollar,  as  compared  with 
the  standard  of  our  American  gold  dollar,  is  one  cent. 
The  Argentine  dollar  is  worth  fifty  cents,  the  Chihan 
peso,  seventeen  cents.  Uruguay,  so  advanced  in  all 
social  and  economic  legislation,  has  rigidly  maintained 
a  sound  coinage,  so  that  her  dollar  is  worth  one  dollar  and 
two  cents,  American  gold. 

It  is  not  long  since  some  of  the  most  civilized  nations, 
such  as  the  United  States,  England,  and  Germany,  reor- 
ganized their  banking  systems,  so  we  may  confidently  ex- 
pect that  Latin  America,  wliich  keeps  about  half  a  century 
behind  them  in  most  matters,  will  soon  see  the  advantage 
of  a  sound  financial  basis  for  both  foreign  and  home  trade. 

Tariffs  and  Taxation. — ^After  the  repressive  measures 
of  Spain  and  Portugal,  the  most  natural  reaction  was 
toward  freedom  of  importation.  To-day,  most  of  the 
republics  have  a  tariff  for  the  protection  of  home  indus- 
tries which  are  being  slowly  introduced  in  the  towns.  As 
fast  as  these  develop  there  is  a  corresponding  adjustment 
in  the  scale  of  duties  levied  on  foreign  goods.  Brazil, 
Peru  and  Bolivia  have  carried  their  imposts  for  revenue 
purposes  to  such  a  point  that  the  cost  of  living  is  greatl}' 
increased. 

Export  duties  on  such  commodities  as  copper,  sugar, 
rubber,  coffee  and  nitrate  are  reasonable  because  the 
nonresident  pays  for  a  favor;  but,  in  some  parts  of  Latin 
America,  the  government  exacts  a  toll  on  the  food  of 
its  own  sons.  "Really,  it  is  not  worth  while  to  raise 
more  because,  after  I  have  met  all  the  demands  of  the 
tax  collector,  no  more  is  left  for  my  pains."  This  is 
the  plaint  of  a  Colombian  planter. 

58 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

Direct  taxation  is  relatively  low  because  the  people 
were  promised  exemption  from  it  when  they  joined  the 
rebellion  against  European  extortioners.  Besides,  too 
sudden  a  rise  in  taxes  would  almost  certainly  incite  the 
poor  to  another  protest  by  force. 

A  further  reason  is  that  the  oligarchies  or  political 
rings  of  aristocrats  who  have  governed  these  repubhcs 
are  themselves  the  largest  assessed  proprietors,  therefore, 
as  they  aver:  "high  taxes  are  not  convenient."  On 
ridiculously  low  valuations  the  rate  all  over  Chile 
(except  the  larger  cities)  is  three  mills  on  the  dollar. 

Where  there  is  no  school  tax,  no  road  tax,  no  poll  tax, 
no  income  tax,  it  is  not  strange  that  most  utihties  common 
enough  among  us  do  not  exist,  and  that  the  average 
citizen  is  compelled  to  shift  for  himself  as  best  he  can. 

Public  Service. — The  casual  observer  is  prone  to  judge 
a  civilization  in  those  particulars  which  seem  essential 
to  comfort  and  well-being  in  his  own  land.  Paved 
streets,  well-constructed  buildings,  street  cars,  automo- 
biles, libraries,  well-stocked  department  stores,  theaters, 
hospitals,  churches  and  schools,  railways,  postal  tele- 
graph, electric  light,  cable,  and  sewage  systems — the 
Latin  Americans  have  them  all. 

Buenos  Aires,  metropoKs  of  the  New  World,  and  the 
largest  city  south  of  the  equator,  has  a  population  of 
one  million  six  hundred  thousand,  and  is  increasing 
at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  thousand  each  year.  No  city 
could  appear  more  modern  and  progressive.  It  has  a 
subway  six  miles  long,  the  finest  race  course  in  tlie  West- 
ern Hemisphere,  and  a  newspaper  (La  Prensa)  which  is 
a  national  institution.  The  magnificent  Prensa  building 
serves  as  headquarters  for  the  entertainment  of  distin- 
guished guests,  shelters  a  score  of  charities,  contains  a 
well-chosen  reference  Hbrary  and  houses  a  mammoth 
night  school. 

Rio  de  Janeiro  boasts  of  the  most  beautiful  driveway 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

in  the  world.  Santiago  is  aptly  described  as  "The  Paris 
of  the  Pacific."  Lima,  seat  of  the  old  viceroys,  is  a  fas- 
cinating city  in  which  American  trolley  cars  roar  past 
Parisian  cafes  and  raise  the  dust  of  medieval  convents. 

The  Latin  Americans  are  justly  proud  of  their  Munici- 
pal Congress  and  University  buildings.  The  Spaniards 
spared  no  effort  or  expense  to  make  their  cities  safe  and 
dehghtful  retreats  where  the  wealthy  and  distinguished 
might  live  at  ease,  surrounded  by  luxury.  At  least  one 
tenth  of  the  Latin  American  population  is  urban.  The 
enterprising  foreigners  have  brought  to  these  centers 
what  attracts  wealth  and  refined  taste.  But  what  of 
the  other  nine  tenths  of  the  people  who  live  in  the  country 
or  in  the  smaller  towns  and  villages?  They  share,  to  some 
sKght  extent,  the  convenience  of  railroads  and  telegraph 
lines,  they  make  an  occasional  visit  to  the  city  markets 
and  shops,  they  send  their  sons  and  daughters  cityward 
to  swell  the  multitude  of  modern  serfs  that  survive  on  the 
necessities  of  the  rich,  but,  in  the  main,  their  Hves  are 
squaHd  and  insipid  because  the  government  neglects 
the  very  class  that  is  the  bulwark  of  every  nation  in 
Latin  America. 

When  a  reformer,  with  a  most  modest  plan  for  helping 
the  laborer,  presented  it  to  a  South  American  Govern- 
ment he  was  adjudged  "insane."  For  lack  of  such  noble 
madness  and  its  appKcation,  Latin  America  is  still  to 
be  reckoned  among  the  countries  which  have  not  pro- 
gressed with  the  times. 

Shall  we  bemoan  the  lack  of  public  conscience  and 
exclaim  with  the  poet  Heine:  "O  Freedom,  thou  wicked 
dream!"  A  thousand  times  no!  Government  of  the 
people,  for  the  people  and  by  the  people  has  not 
perished  in  Latin  America.  Some  day — how  soon  none 
dare  foretell — the  workingman  will  have  his  chance. 

Education. — The  lack  of  space  precludes  any  exhaust- 
ive treatment  of  education  in  Latin  America.      Our 

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LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

readers  are  referred  to  the  admirable  and  thorough 
report  issued  by  Commission  III  of  the  Panama  Congress 
on  Christian  Work. 

The  striking  deficiencies  of  existing  systems  will  be 
exhibited  later  as  they  are  related  to  themes  in  Chapter 
IV  of  tliis  book.  Latin  America  has  produced  great 
educators  Hke  Sarmiento.  The  early  leaders  of  Latin 
American  democracy  clearly  understood  that  an  untaught 
people  could  never  attain  abiding  prosperity  or  greatness. 
But  the  State  had  been  sharing  this  responsibility  with 
the  Church  all  along  and  has  had  barely  a  half  century 
to  create  secular  agencies. 

Higher  education  and  professional  preparation  in 
universities,  teacher  training  in  normal  schools,  and 
hberal  instruction  in  secondary  schools  {liceos)  have 
been  provided  for  the  wealtliier  classes.  The  glaring 
defects  in  this  system  are  the  theoretical  character  of 
the  studies  and  the  absence  of  formative  or  corrective 
moral  discipline. 

Military  and  naval  academies  are  usually  of  high 
efficiency,  but  technical  and  vocational  education  are  yet 
in  their  infancy  in  lands  where  there  is  unusual  need  of 
them. 

But  the  elementary  public  school  and  compulsory 
attendance  thereon,  are  distant  goals  in  all  Latin  American 
republics  where  more  than  half  of  the  inhabitants  are 
unable  to  read  or  write. 

We  must  all  concede  that  there  might  be  worse  calam- 
ities than  an  untaught  populace;  yet,  all  over  these  coun- 
tries, a  train  of  evils  seems  to  have  joined  the  retinue  of 
analphabetism.  Every  republic  is  alive  to  the  peril 
that  threatens  it  and  some  of  them  are  putting  forth 
heroic  efforts  to  remedy  this  grave  weakness  in  their 
national  life.    Our  missions  are  helping  them. 

Caste. — Most  of  the  Indian  forbears  of  Latin  America 
were  communistic  in  their  tribal  relations  and  the  only 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LAIIX  AMERICA 

distinctions  of  rank  were  incidental  to  war  and  primi- 
tive justice. 

The  Europeans,  on  the  contrary,  brought  with  them 
all  the  usages  of  a  graded  society,  and  there  began  all 
over  again  on  new  soil,  the  assignment  of  persons  to 
distinct  categories  according  to  their  birth,  avocation  or 
fortune. 

As  society  is  organized  at  present,  we  cannot  escape  an 
aristocracy  of  wealth.  Most  of  us  admit  the  aristocracy 
of  intelKgence  or  energy.  None  dare  air  his  views  on  the 
aristocracy  of  birth  very  far  outside  the  family  circle. 
But  in  Latin  America  first  rank  was  accorded  to  the  Con- 
querors, whose  heraldic  emblem  was  a  gory  sword.  They 
were  followed  by  the  crioUos  or  native-born  Europeans, 
and  the  "mestizos"  or  half-breeds.  Thus  ran  the  blood  line. 

There  was  also  parallel  standard  of  occupation  which 
shaded  down  from  the  merchant  to  the  huckster,  from 
the  landlord  to  the  lowest  menial,  and  from  the  skilled 
trades  to  the  unskilled. 

Latin  America  has  an  ironclad  caste  system  scarcely 
less  cumbersome  and  absurd  than  the  hoary  tradition  of 
Hindoostan. 

"Clothes  make  the  man  and  lack  of  them  the  fellow" 
in  Latin  America.  But  rigidity  of  caste  makes  life  serio- 
comic. "The  son  of  a  carpenter  must  always  be  a  car- 
penter like  his  father"  is  an  axiom.  What  proud  patrician 
scorn  is  affected  by  the  "first  ladies"  of  the  land!  What 
supercilious  avoidance  of  household  work!  The  finest 
distinctions  are  known  only  to  the  initiated  but  the 
visitor  to  Latin  America  will  find  out  that  all  individuals 
and  households  are  classified  as  "rich,"  "decent,"  "poor," 
or  "foreign."  This  social  rating  may  have  legitimate  con- 
trol over  unbridled  ambition  but,  in  general,  it  is  a  heavy 
drag  on  the  chariot  of  democracy. 

Fair  Tests  of  a  Civilization. — We  all  doubtless  agree 
that  a  safe  criterion  by  which  to  judge  any  society  is  the 

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LATL\  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

average  of  its  living  as  evidenced  by  the  character  and 
conduct  of  its  citizens  in  their  usual  setting.  Our  proposal 
is  to  visit  Latin  America,  to  elbow  the  crowds  on  her 
city  streets,  to  chat  with  the  artisan  and  the  cowboy 
as  we  sip  our  coffee  and  nibble  our  bread  with  them,  to 
include  all  classes  if  possible  in  the  scope  of  our  inves- 
tigation. 

Our  inquiry,  then,  will  apply  to  the  men,  women  and 
children,  to  the  home  and  to  the  controlHng  principles 
that  give  any  nation  or  group  of  peoples  a  unified  exist- 
ence. 

THE  MEN  OF  LATIN  AMERICA 

Traces  of  Blood. — In  Latin  America  the  dark  complex- 
ion of  sunny  Spain  is  shadowed  over  with  a  tinge  of 
burnished  copper.  The  well-chiseled  Castilian  lip  is 
thickened  by  the  dash  of  savage  power.  On  every  hand 
there  is  evidence  of  the  broad  features,  the  tapered  fore- 
head and  the  rounded,  receding  chin  of  the  Indian.  There 
is,  likewise,  that  steady  glow  within  the  eyes  that  con- 
trasts with  the  dancing  flame  of  the  vivacious  Spaniard  or 
Portuguese.  The  massive  trunk  and  the  square  shoulders 
are  born  of  the  New  World.  Where  the  back  of  the  skull 
is  long,  straight  and  high  and  the  nose  aquiUne,  Spanish 
blood  holds  the  balance. 

Intellectual  Power. — Our  brothers  in  Latin  America, 
like  ourselves,  are  not  all  cast  in  the  same  mold.  The 
annals  of  the  last  century  contain  the  names  of  con- 
structive statesmen,  distinguished  scientists,  gifted  art- 
ists, and  authors,  self-den}dng  educators  and  heroic 
reformers. 

Delegates  to  the  Hague  Tribunal  have  not  been  slow 
to  recognize  the  compelling  intellectual  power  of  Ruy 
Barbosa,  of  Brazil.  Calvo  and  Drago,  of  Argentina  have 
carried  their  conclusions  in  international  councils  by  sheer 
force  of  logic.  To  the  Latin  American  political  scientists 
there  seems  to  have  been  given  a  prophetic  insight  into 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

human  relationships  and  rights.  They  are  the  pacifist 
leaders.  When  the  Mexican  question  became  too  baffling 
for  President  Wilson's  Cabinet,  the  Secretary  of  State 
was  glad  to  invite  the  ambassadors  of  Argentina,  Brazil 
and  Chile  and  the  ministers  of  Bolivia,  Uruguay  and 
Guatemala  to  confer  with  him.  Bloodshed  was  largely 
averted  because  their  suggestions  were  received  with 
due  deference.  Latin  Americans  alternate  with  North 
Americans  as  presidents  of  the  Scientific  Congresses. 

Dr.  Oswaldo  Cruz,  the  Brazilian  sanitary  engineer,  was 
so  successful  in  banishing  yellow  fever  and  malaria  from 
Rio  de  Janeiro  that  the  Berhn  International  Congress 
of  Hygiene  (1906)  awarded  him  the  Gold  Medal  of  Honor. 
In  1881  his  colleague  in  Cuba,  Dr.  Carlos  A.  Finley, 
traced  the  yellow  fever  of  the  tropics  to  a  certain  mosquito 
and  prepared  the  way  for  Dr.  Reed  and  General  Gorgas 
on  the  infested  Isthmus. 

Santos  Dumont,  the  pioneer  aviator,  is  a  Brazilian. 
Heredia,  the  Cuban,  is  Latin  America's  poet  laureate. 
Latin  American  students  educated  alongside  our  own 
kinsmen  frequently  surpass  them  in  intellectual  attain- 
ments. Baron  Rio  Branco,  of  Brazil,  President  Saenz- 
Pena,  of  Argentina,  the  diplomatist  Calderon,  of  Peru, 
Presidents  Barrios,  of  Guatemala,  and  Diaz,  of  Mexico, 
are  the  peers  of  our  ablest  public  servants. 

But  no  galaxy  of  genius  is  typical  of  the  whole  popula- 
tion. Men  of  high  moral  purpose  are  rare  in  Latin  Amer- 
ican life.  Few  of  them  are  struggling  against  the  tide; 
most  of  them  are  opportunists.  Their  early  training  fur- 
nished them  standards  that  are  not  ethically  high.  Trop- 
ical languor  has  been  assigned  as  the  cause  of  prevalent 
lewdness  but  the  excuse  of  chmate  covers  too  many 
lapses  that  have  their  taproot  in  the  soul.  Toward 
women  their  attitude  is  usually  far  short  of  what  we  accept 
as  gentlemanly  honor.  Byron's  Don  Juan  would  be  os- 
tracized in  North  America  but  lionized  in  Latin  America. 
Among  the  gilded  youth  of  the  cities  sensuality  is  sapping 

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LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

the  foundations  of  vitality.  The  Colony  began  with  a 
generation  of  "war  babies"  and  the  blot  is  still  on  the 
escutcheon  of  manhood.  Woman,  outside  the  family 
circle,  is  still  regarded  as  a  fair  field  for  conquest  and 
exploitation.  Neither  the  pubhc  nor  the  Church  institu- 
tions have  ever  launched  a  crusade  against  uncleanness 
of  thought,  speech  and  act.  Only  true  men  and  women 
who  have  Hved  for  a  long  period  in  Latin  America 
are  fully  aware  of  this  stifling  atmosphere.  The  large 
majority  of  the  higher  ranks  of  society  are  irreligious. 
Their  infidelity  and  immorality  interact  as  debasing 
influences. 

Commercial  probity,  where  it  exists,  obeys  the  law  of 
expediency  rather  than  the  compulsion  of  right. 

When  we  turn  to  the  sturdier  artisans  we  find  a  similar 
moral  twist.  Their  selfishness  is  less  refined  in  its  mani- 
festation. The  common  use  of  alcohol  and  narcotics, 
the  passion  for  betting  and  the  coarse  suggestive  speech 
are  marks  of  the  working  classes  in  the  towns  and  cities. 
Miners  and  mariners,  hke  the  fraternity  everywhere, 
are  the  most  wanton. 

The  peon  class,  despite  their  outdoor  life  and  vigorous 
exercise,  allow  their  stale  unprofitable  employments  to 
drive  them  uncontrolled  toward  the  sins  of  the  flesh. 
The  plebeian  hordes  thrust  upon  present-day  legislators 
as  many  perplexities  as  the  same  class  in  ancient 
Rome. 

Mortality  and  Crime. — There  are  not  many  ripe 
veterans  in  the  cities  of  Latin  America;  most  men  die 
before  they  reach  the  age  of  forty-five.  Private  quarrels 
and  petty  larceny  are  common.  The  Latin  American 
of  criminal  instincts  will  murder  for  vengeance  but  seldom 
for  gold;  cold-blooded  criminals  are  fewer  than  in  the 
North.  The  streets  and  bjn^^ays  are  generally  insecure 
after  nightfall;  traffic  along  them  may  bring  unpleasant 
interruptions  at  any  moment,  and  certain  practices  in 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

public — quite  natural  and  harmless  in  a  state  of  innocence 
— tend  to  increase  knowledge  without  augmenting  virtue. 
A  town  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants  in  Anglo-Saxon 
America  seldom  requires  more  than  live  policemen;  in 
a  center  of  the  same  size  in  Latin  America  the  citizens 
do  not  feel  safe  with  less  than  a  hundred  uniformed  guard- 
ians, mounted  and  on  foot. 

Popular  Amusements. — On  gala  days  the  whole  coun- 
tryside assembles  to  celebrate.  The  lack  of  amusement 
parks  and  the  enervating  climate,  combined  with  the  long 
hours  of  labor,  make  athletic  sports  out  of  the  question. 
Horse-racing  is  a  favorite  pastime.  In  the  lands  that  are 
nearest  Spain  in  their  customs,  bull  baiting  and  cock- 
fighting  are  honored  institutions.  The  gambling  mania 
is  strong  in  almost  all  Latin  Americans  and  the  national 
lottery  accounts  for  many  a  ruined  home.  Most  of  the 
pubHc  holidays  are  occasions  for  excessive  drinking  yet 
the  outdoor  games,  in  themselves,  have  an  attractiveness 
that  compels  the  admiration  of  a  foreigner.  One  writes 
of  a  wrestHng  match  with  horses:  ''In  front  of  the 
booths  long  timbers  formed  a  breastwork  and  here  the 
men  and  boys  were  indulging  in  their  favorite  pastime, 
the  Topeadura.  First,  the  leaders  take  their  positions 
with  the  horses'  chests  against  a  stiff  pole,  the  mounts 
stretch  their  necks  over  each  other,  the  sides  range  them- 
selves in  a  compact  row  alongside  their  leaders  and  at  a 
given  signal  the  riders  ply  their  enormous  spurs  (some  of 
which  have  rowels  three  and  four  inches  in  diameter). 
They  ride  like  centaurs  but  have  need  of  all  their  skill. 
They  tug  and  strain,  they  lash  with  their  quirts  and  shout 
like  demons  incarnate.  Still  the  serried  mass  remains  as  if 
rooted  to  the  spot,  the  poor  beasts  are  straining  every 
nerve,  their  eyeballs  glare,  their  tongues  protrude,  and 
they  struggle  desperately  for  firm  footing.  The  riders 
shout  in  hoarse  frenzy  and  redouble  their  efforts  to  pass 
their  opponents  but  the  way  is  blocked  by  a  wall  of  deter- 

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LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

mined  horsemen.  But  see  yonder!  The  big  sorrel  has 
balked,  he  rears  and  tries  to  throw  his  rider.  The  side 
has  been  weakened.  Down  sweeps  the  opposing  column 
with  irresistible  stride  and  the  confusion  is  indescribable. 
Rosa  Bonheur's  *Horse  Fair'  lacks  animation  in  compar- 
ison with  the  wild  array  of  prancing  steeds  that  moves 
like  an  avalanche  while  the  victorious  captain  spurs 
his  way  through  the  troop  and  waves  his  hat  in  triumph. 
After  a  breathing  spell  for  the  horses  and  the  usual 
stirrup  cup,  they  return  to  the  fray. 

"A  proud  mountaineer,  erect  and  confident,  challenges 
all  comers  to  meet  his  glossy  Percheron  stallion  and  a 
stripling  on  a  flea-bitten  pony  accepts.  The  crowd  cheers 
vociferously  as  the  agile  pony  pushes  the  huge  body  of 
his  rival  along  the  pole." 

WOMANHOOD 

Character  and  Influence. — The  Iberian  strain  has 
grafted  upon  the  native  stock  a  type  of  beauty  and  grace 
that  is  peculiar  to  the  peninsula  of  romance.  An  early 
Roman  historian  was  captivated  by  what  he  styled  the 
"golden  pallor"  of  the  women  of  Andalusia  and,  in  all  works 
of  travel  and  fiction,  the  attractiveness  of  the  Spanish 
maiden  is  extolled.  Dickens  makes  one  of  his  vagrant 
characters  exclaim  concerning  the  women  whom  he  had 
met  in  the  enchanted  land  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella: 
"Wondrously  beautiful!" 

The  admixture  of  Indian  bloods  has  added  a  fullness 
and  heaviness  to  the  figure  which  robs  it  of  its  Spanish 
suppleness  and  reduces  the  period  of  bloom,  but  the 
verdict  commonly  accepted  is  that  "all  girls  are  pretty 
until  their  twenty-fifth  year."  The  ravishing  combina- 
tion of  rich  old  rose  tints  against  a  skin  of  olive  or  saffron 
with  a  halo  of  jet  to  heighten  the  luster  of  matchless  eyes, 
cannot  be  equaled  and  certainly  not  surpassed  in  any 
land.  Doubtless  the  Lord  could  have  made  eyes  more 
beautiful  than  those  of  the  Latin  American  women,  but 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

doubtless  he  never  did  (with  apologies  to  Isaac  Walton). 
Coquetry,  petulance,  anger,  awe,  reproach,  pity  or 
defiance  are  perfectly  mirrored  in  these  changing  orbs 
and  no  language  concerning  them  is  too  extravagant. 

As  the  armature  fits  the  magnet  so  the  senorita 
completes  Latin  American  fife.  Betrothed  and  wedded 
under  the  watchful  eyes  of  her  elders,  educated  to  occupy 
her  sphere  as  wife  and  mother,  she  has  not  yet  dreamed 
of  any  other  destiny  or  struggled  against  convention  in 
order  to  attain  some  wider  influence  apart  from  the 
custody  and  guidance  of  her  father,  brother  or  husband. 
Her  mental  horizon  may  be  contracted,  her  accomplish- 
ments few  but  essential  to  her  calling,  her  ambition 
bounded  by  tradition  that  is  unyielding;  nevertheless, 
she  irradiates  the  sweetness  and  light  that  conserve  the 
joy  and  peace  of  Latin  America.  The  home  is  the  citadel 
of  any  civiHzation;  women  are  its  guardians,  children  its 
treasures.  We  must  never  forget  that  the  majority  of 
Latin  Americans  fall  within  these  two  classes.  In  our 
estimate  of  their  worth  and  possibilities  it  is  only  fair 
that  we  keep  in  mind  their  vicissitudes  since  the  yoke 
of  conquest  pressed  so  heavily  upon  them. 

In  their  history,  so  inadequately  recorded,  we  catch 
glimpses  of  their  Spartan  spirit  in  the  heroic  period  of 
each  republic.  Only  within  the  past  generation  has 
there  been  any  attempt  to  erect  a  Hall  of  Fame  to  the 
memory  of  the  Mothers  of  Independence  without  whom 
the  desperate  struggle  would  have  been  futile.  In  Ercil- 
la's  epic  poem  "Araucana"  he  paints  Fresia,  the  wife  of 
CaupoKcan,  as  a  high-spirited  princess  who  preferred 
the  death  of  her  son  to  the  stigma  of  his  father's  supposed 
cowardice. 

The  Indian  ancestors  of  the  Latin  American  peoples  of 
to-day  emerge  in  the  dawn  of  history  under  two  forms  of 
organization.  In  the  Inca  period  they  were  gathered 
together  in  communities,  under  some  central  authority, 
with  well-built  houses,  central  stores,  markets,  streets  and 

68 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

water  systems.  The  lapse  into  serfdom  has  been  most 
cruel  to  this  class  which  lost  most  of  the  safeguards  that 
protect  the  home.  Others  were  nomads  and,  Hke  the 
North  American  tribes,  wandered  from  place  to  place, 
the  women  sharing  the  common  burdens  with  their 
husbands  and  fathers,  and  assisting  in  the  hunt  by  dress- 
ing the  meat  and  tanning  the  skins.  In  times  of  peace 
they  collected  the  roots,  herbs  and  nuts  that  stocked 
their  larder,  and  spun  wool  for  garments.  Their  position 
was  not  one  of  inferiority  but  of  partnership  and  there  is 
no  evidence  that  they  were  treated  with  either  contempt 
or  cruelty.  The  marriage  bond  was  sacred  and  unchastity 
rare  although  there  were  some  polygamous  tribes.  In  rare 
cases,  as  among  the  Amazons,  women  attained  the  su- 
premacy that  we  are  wont  to  associate  with  the  male  sex 
and  practised  polyandry. 

Among  the  Mapuche  Indians  of  Chile  the  high  priestess 
or  witch  doctor  is  always  a  woman  and  her  office  has 
been  preserved  until  the  present  day.  She  ascends  the 
sacred  tree  to  make  intercession  for  favorable  weather 
and  bounteous  crops,  she  is  the  sibyl  of  the  tribe  and  the 
prophetess  whom  they  consult  when  crises  arise — a 
Miriam  and  a  Boadicea  with  a  dash  of  the  sorceress  of 
Endor. 

The  Spanish  conquest,  followed  by  three  awful  cen- 
turies of  barbaric  cruelty,  made  woman  a  victim  to  the 
basest  passions  ever  unchained  to  deface  the  fair  work 
of  God.  Even  the  Indian  woman  bears  the  seal  of  essen- 
tial feminine  grandeur.  She,  too,  like  her  sisters  of  our 
own  time,  was  a  sensitive  soul,  with  an  inborn  passion 
for  purity  and  honor,  with  all  the  dignity  and  gentleness 
that  make  her  the  protectress  of  man.  Alas!  she,  the 
innocent  and  helpless,  was  the  chief  sufferer  when  the 
fortunes  of  war  placed  her  beneath  the  heel  of  a  ruthless 
oppressor. 

The  massacre  of  Atahualpa  was  speedily  followed 
bya  St.  Bartholomew  of  Indians  and  a  worse  fate  for 

69 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  surviving  women.  The  visitor  to  Latin  America 
marvels  at  the  long-suffering  of  womankind  as  they  bear 
the  deadening  burdens  of  poverty,  discomfort,  betrayal, 
neglect  and  ill  treatment.  To  one  who  knows  the  pathetic 
story  of  their  past  the  reason  is  obvious.  The  over- 
whelming number  of  poor,  unmarried  mothers  all  over 
Latin  America  is  a  stern  indictment  of  the  male  popula- 
tion. In  passive  virtues  these  women  are  far  superior 
to  the  men. 

Those  who  know  the  sterling  qualities  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican womanhood  are  the  most  sanguine  concerning  the 
latent  powers  that  may  be  developed  by  the  sympathetic 
touch  of  a  Christian  sisterhood. 

In  this  field  likewise,  there  are  the  classes  and  the 
masses  in  about  the  same  proportion  as  we  find  among  the 
general  population.  The  merchants  who  followed  the 
conquerors  brought  their  wives  to  the  new  land  and 
helped  to  stem  the  tide  of  concubinage.  Government 
officials  and  emigrants  from  Spain  and  Portugal  imported 
enough  of  the  Old  World  atmosphere  to  raise  the  social 
code,  but  the  nation's  storyis  told  in"the  short  and  simple 
annals  of  the  poor."  The  shining  graces  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican womanhood  have  been  resplendent  against  the  dark 
background  of  outraged  rights. 

Despite  this  handicap,  they  have  exhibited  prevailing 
traits  that  are  a  sure  foundation  for  future  greatness. 

One  who  has  spent  a  lifetime  among  the  women  of  a 
South  American  republic  thus  describes  them:  "There 
is  an  elusive  and  indefinable  attraction  about  them  that 
one  cannot  resist.  It  is  not  education,  for  it  exists  where 
they  have  been  deprived  of  such  advantages.  It  is 
not  the  touch  of  luxury  for  it  is  found  among  the  poorest. 
We  cannot  describe  it  yet  we  thank  God  that  our  o\vn 
mothers  had  it." 

It  is  the  charm  of  femininity  with  which  the  Creator 
has  dowered  the  sex  and  without  which  the  world  would 
be  a  wilderness. 

70 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

It  reaches  its  fruition  in  the  home  and  is  crowned  in 
motherhood.  Notwithstanding  all  the  artificial  barriers 
imposed  by  lineage,  fortune  and  education,  there  are 
certain  outstanding  characteristics  that  arrest  the  atten- 
tion of  all  observers. 

Gentility. — The  women  of  Latin  America,  as  a  whole, 
are  nature's  noblewomen.  When  this  inherited  tendency 
is  further  enriched  by  training  and  furnished  means  of 
expression  they  become  courtly  as  queens  in  their  gracious 
and  polished  manners.  The  rude  buffetings  of  adversity 
seem  to  have  made  the  hearts  of  Latin  American  women 
very  tender  and  hospitable  toward  the  unfortunate  and 
the  stranger.  The  traveler  who  finds  himself  overtaken 
by  the  night  near  some  mountaineer's  cabin  will  receive 
a  warm  welcome. 

Benevolence. — The  open  hand  and  the  open  hearth 
are  emblematic  of  Latin  America.  The  sacred  stories  of 
Ruth,  of  Mary  and  Martha,  of  Salome  and  Dorcas,  of 
Lois  and  Lydia  have  fallen  Kke  good  seed  on  prepared 
soil.  No  modest  dwelling,  however  poor  and  however 
overcrowded,  is  too  small  when  homeless  wanderers  are 
adrift.  The  widow  and  the  orphan  are  never  turned 
away  and  the  last  morsel  is  gladly  shared  with  the  unfor- 
tunate. Hundreds  of  cases  could  be  related  where  poor 
widows,  after  raising  their  own  families,  have  felt  such 
compassion  for  the  orphan  that  they  have  adopted  six 
or  eight  fatherless  children  and  have  toiled  unsparingly 
for  them  in  their  unquenchable  love.  The  writer  has 
seen  a  poor  laundress  weep  because  she  was  unable 
to  succor  more  than  seven  children  of  unknowTi  parentage. 
^Vhen  a  home  is  established  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  a 
large  number  of  relatives  invited  to  share  it,  and,  as 
a  rule  entertainment  is  hmitcd  only  by  income.  The 
Latin  American  desires  to  acquire  more  wealth  in  order 
that  his  wife  may  extend  protecting  care  to  a  larger 
number  of  friends  and  dependents. 

71 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Trustfulness. — Generous  souls  are  confiding  and  the 
result  depends  entirely  upon  the  object  of  their  faith. 
The  abuse  of  confidence  accounts  for  most  of  the  sorrow 
of  womanhood  south  of  the  Rio  Grande.  The  mothers, 
wives  and  sisters  are  clay  in  the  hands  of  reHgious  potters. 
Their  spiritual  advisers  have  traded  upon  this  cardinal 
virtue  until  they  have  perverted  it  into  blind  fanaticism. 
Women  who  might  have  been  mystics  and  saints  if  their 
faith  had  been  centered  on  the  living  Christ  have  become 
narrow,  intolerant  and  bitterly  sectarian  because  they 
have  been  taught  to  abandon  the  reaHty  for  the  form. 

Loyalty. — In  all  the  relationships  of  life  the  women  are 
true  to  their  declared  allegiance.  Patient  and  courageous, 
warm-hearted  and  true,  they  cling  to  their  Church,  their 
flag,  their  home,  their  friends.  Few  of  them  think  of 
abandoning  their  Church  or  divorcing  their  unworthy 
husbands  for  they  believe  in  a  life  homage  to  the  cause 
or  the  person  to  whom  they  have  promised  obedience. 
Their  long-suffering  is  proverbial.  The  Latin  American 
woman  will  endure  what  would  drive  her  Anglo-Saxon 
sister  to  distraction.  Give  her  a  purpose  for  her  life  and 
she  will  break  her  alabaster  flask  of  precious  ointment 
and  lavish  her  tears  and  her  affection  upon  the  desire 
of  her  heart. 

Domesticity. — In  a  peculiar  sense  the  home  of  a  Latin 
American  woman  is  the  throne  of  her  power  and  the  cor- 
ner of  the  universe  where  she  reigns  supreme.  The 
mother  is  a  power  to  be  reckoned  with  even  in  matters 
of  state.  The  social  amenities  provide  her  lever  of  per- 
sonal influence.  The  sons  proudly  perpetuate  her  name 
and  include  it  in  their  signatures.  A  progressive  South 
American  repubhc  boasted  of  its  presidenta  (lady 
president)  although  she  never  appeared  at  political 
debates  or  caucuses.  Let  us  pay  unstinted  tribute  to 
Senora    Josef  a    Dominguez,    heroine    of    the    Mexican 

72 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

Independence  and  to  her  sisters  in  Brazil  who  met  the 
vanquished  patriots  with  the  stern  injunction:  "Go 
back  and  conquer,  and  as  victors  we  will  receive  you." 
Policarpa  Salabarrieta,  the  martyr-patriot  of  Colombia, 
enjoys  deathless  fame  among  the  emancipated,  while 
hundreds  of  equal  devotion  are  hardly  known  outside 
the  borders  they  helped  to  redeem. 

It  was  a  Latin  American  lady,  Sefiora  Da  Costa,  who 
started  the  movement  for  the  collection  of  a  fund  which 
matched  the  Statue  of  Liberty  in  New  York  Harbor  by 
the  Statue  of  Brotherhood  on  the  summit  of  the  Cordil- 
leras and  provided  for  the  erection  of  the  wonderful 
"Christ  of  the  Andes." 

All  over  Latin  America  feminine  activity  in  good  works 
is  in  evidence;  women's  societies  finance  hospitals,  asy- 
lums, day  nurseries,  convalescent  homes,  and  sanita- 
riums for  consumptives;  women  act  as  censors  of  the 
press  and  stage  and  relieve  the  orphaned,  the  diseased 
and  the  fallen.  None  dare  impeach  the  integrity  or 
question  the  ability  of  Latin  American  womanhood,  but 
the  outcome  of  their  lives  has  frequently  been  far  from 
satisfying  their  own  yearnings  and  their  very  virtues  have 
sometimes  overreached  themselves.  Politeness  may 
shade  into  hypocrisy,  benevolence  may  foster  pauperism, 
faith  may  beget  credulity,  loyalty  may  degenerate  into 
bigotry  and  domesticity  into  a  narrow  outlook  upon  Hfe. 

The  Uberalizing  influences  of  modern  thought  and  the 
uplift  of  modern  culture  have  been  denied  the  majority 
of  their  sex.  More  than  half  of  them  are  unable  to  read 
and  write.  The  home  receives  few  of  the  helpful  influences 
that  flow  through  the  press.  The  Saracenic  restrictions 
that  surround  the  family  as  an  inheritance  from  the  Old 
World  have  dwarfed  her  development  and  closed  to  her 
the  avenues  of  emplo3rment  in  which  her  Northern  sister 
finds  self-support.  If  woman  be  exalted  to  her  highest 
sphere,  man  must  cooperate  loyally,  whereas,  in  Latin 
America,  the  sterner  sex  has  been  content  to  cajole,  to 

73 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIX  AMERICA 

indulge,  to  subordinate  and  to  treat  woman  as  the  pleas- 
ing toy  of  his  lighter  hours  without  cherishing  her  as  liis 
true  complement  in  life  or  displaying  either  reverence 
or  respect  for  womankind  in  general.  All  over  Latin 
America  the  barred  windows  and  doorways  are  the  sym- 
bol of  a  womanhood  which  has  not  had  the  chance  to 
express  itself  in  full,  free  joyous  abandon  to  deepest 

instincts. 

CHILDHOOD 

Handicaps. — We  are  accustomed  to  associate  the  early 
period  of  life  with  freedom,  activity,  play  and  song. 
Since  four  fifths  of  Latin  America  lies  within  the  tropics, 
children  are  most  rapid  in  their  development  and  tend  to 
precocity  that  startles  a  stranger.  There  is  an  undertone 
of  seriousness  and  sadness  in  child  life  in  Latin  America 
that  harks  back  like  an  echo  of  the  days  of  oppression 
when  the  little  ones  were  not  exempt  from  the  heavy 
loads.  Misciiief  is  di\'ided  by  a  very  narrow  margin  from 
maliciousness  and  deceit.  Indulgence  of  children  has 
resulted  from  misplaced  affection.  Among  the  poorer 
class  the  unfolding  life  is  dwarfed  b}^  the  heavy  cares 
that  are  borne  almost  from  infancy.  One  of  the  com- 
monest sights  in  the  slums  of  large  cities  is  the  child 
nurse.  She  is  generally  an  older  sister  in  a  large  family 
where  the  children  are  separated  by  minimum  intervals. 
She  wears  a  careworn  expression  that  indicateshowheavily 
her  premature  burdens  weigh  upon  her  as  she  carries  one 
nestling  infant  and  fondly  guards  the  toddling  steps  of 
another. 

''Why  are  you  not  at  school  to-day,  Martita?"  we  ask. 
"Well,  sir,  my  mother  had  to  go  to  market  so  I  had 
to  take  charge  of  the  babies."  Excuses  are  magnified 
into  impossibilities  and  childhood  becomes  the  haphazard 
stage  of  an  unregulated  Hfe.  For  lack  of  food,  footwear 
or  clothing,  the  boys  and  girls  are  deprived  of  their 
elementary  education  and  Latin  America  continues,  from 
generation  to  generation,  a  continent  of  analphabets. 

74 


The  Llama  or  Sheep  Camel 


The    Little    (liringn's    Playmate 


A  Friendly   Peccar 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

Colombia  reports  four  hundred  thousand  pupils  of  school 
age  with  only  forty-two  thousand  in  the  public  schools. 

A  leading  educationalist  has  ventured  the  opinion 
that  not  more  than  iilteen  per  cent  of  the  children  of 
Latin  America  ever  have  a  fair  chance  to  master  the 
rudiments  of  learning.  The  bulk  of  them  enter  a  world 
in  which  they  seem  predestined  to  illiteracy.  Not  so  are 
the  sons  and  daughters  of  the  wealthier  famihes  who  are 
carefully  taught  in  public  and  private  institutions  until 
they  enter  university  circles  and  are  launched  upon  their 
professional  careers. 

Child  labor  on  the  estates  and  in  the  factories  is  an 
injustice  almost  wholly  unchecked  by  legislation.  Public 
playgrounds  are  a  feature  only  recently  introduced  into 
some  of  the  larger  cities.  The  fine  science  of  child  nurture 
is  Httle  studied  and  less  practiced  in  Latin  America  so 
that  the  lot  of  the  average  child  is  not  so  happy  as  it 
might  be — a  trifle  worse  than  that  of  the  slum  children 
of  our  European  and  American  cities. 

Listen  for  a  moment  to  Him  who  raised  the  little  ones 
to  a  realm  beside  himself:  "He  that  receiveth  one  of 
these  httle  ones  in  my  name,  receiveth  me."  Rightfully 
can  he  arraign  us.  Let  the  glorious  memories  of  youth 
and  the  bountiful  love  for  children  all  our  own  constrain 
us  to  put  a  Christ-touch  into  the  Hves  of  Latin  American 
cliildren. 

The  Latin  American  Home. — Latin  America,  sad  to 
relate,  has  not  yet  developed  any  considerable  middle 
class.  In  answer  to  clear  questioning,  a  large  number  of 
residents  in  that  land  arrived  independently  at  the  con- 
clusion that  from  five  to  eight  per  cent  constitute  the 
wealthy,  ruling  class  while  the  remainder  might  be  classed 
as  poor.  Some  of  the  latter,  however,  have  sufficient 
food,  shelter  and  raiment  and  others  are  removed  beyond 
the  terror  of  want.  In  some  of  the  more  advanced 
republics  the  artisans  are  beginning  to  save  and  acquire 

75 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

small  properties.  When  the  family  income  is  ample  the 
problem  of  home  life  is  one  of  discipline  and  management. 
But  where  there  are  four  to  eight  children  and  the  daily 
wage  is  less  than  a  dollar  the  mother  of  the  household 
might  ask  the  reader:  "How  would  you  invest  it  and 
what  returns  could  you  expect?"  More  than  half  of  it 
is  needed  for  food;  how  are  the  children  to  be  clad?  What 
scant  margin  remains  for  emergencies?  The  poor  can- 
not call  a  doctor  or  visit  a  dentist  for  the  simple  reason 
that  there  are  no  funds  available,  hence  the  poor  flock 
about  the  dispensary. 

Poverty,  poverty  everywhere  and  often  in  the  midst 
of  plenty!  Poverty  and  wretchedness  as  the  recompense 
of  honest  industry!  The  common  causes  of  indigence 
operate  in  Latin  America  as  elsewhere — laziness,  improv- 
idence, drunkenness  and  lack  of  education.  But  there 
is  too  much,  far  too  much,  unmerited  pauperism.  It 
carries  no  inherent  blessing  but  fosters  ignorance,  crime, 
misery  and  despair. 

A  Humble  Home. — On  the  large  estates,  on  the  cojffee 
and  sugar  plantations  and  in  the  country,  bounteous 
Nature  draws  the  fangs  of  starvation. 

About  the  rustic  hut  there  are  trees  that  yield  their 
fruit  in  season  and  lend  their  kindly  shade.  The  brook 
supplies  pure  water  in  abundance  and  the  winter  winds 
are  tempered.  There  may  be  an  upper  story  under  the 
thatch  of  sedge  or  straw  and  a  notched  pole  for  a  stairway. 
Skins  and  rugs  provide  couch  and  coverlet.  A  simple 
diet  is  provided  by  the  kindly  earth  and  fashion  intrudes 
not.  The  home  may  be  of  rough  adobe  with  mud  floors 
and  tiny  windows,  but  love  and  labor  have  sanctified  it. 
Here  the  family  are  raised,  here  their  friends  are  welcomed 
and  from  this  rude  portal  the  sons  and  daughters  go  forth 
to  bless  or  curse  their  generation.  No  wayfarer  passes 
without  tasting  the  cheer  of  such  a  home.  Some  of  the 
noblest  and  best  of  Latin  Americans  have  dreamed  their 

76 


LATIxN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

boyhood  fancies  amid  such  surroundings.  The  com- 
munity spirit  is  strongest  in  these  settlements.  On  feast 
days  the  dusky  youths  and  maidens  gather  beneath  the 
shade  of  some  patriarchal  fig  tree  and  whirl  about  in  the 
simple  dance  while  the  local  bard  sings  the  love  lyrics 
to  the  accompaniment  of  a  twanging  guitar.  Although 
the  number  of  holy  days  in  the  year  means  a  serious  loss 
to  employers  very  few  of  them  can  be  spent  in  outdoor 
sports  and  little  relief  from  drudgery  comes  to  the  toiler 
except  on  Sunday.  The  church  or  chapel  is  the  meeting 
place  at  early  mass  and  social  calls  are  made  in  the  after- 
noon. Rural  Ufe  may  be  monotonous  and  the  farm 
laborers  may  enjoy  the  simple  life  within  close  bounds, 
but,  if  they  are  thrifty  and  sober,  they  suffer  little  and 
usually  live  to  a  ripe,  old  age.  It  is  their  removal  to  the 
cities  that  lays  a  cruel  cross  upon  them.  The  temptation 
to  congregate  in  towns  and  cities  is  perhaps  stronger 
with  them  than  with  other  peoples.  Town  or  city  Ufe 
means  excitement,  novelty,  hosts  of  new  friends  and 
larger  earnings. 

Without  due  consideration  of  the  drawbacks  and  dan- 
gers of  urban  life,  most  of  them  enter  never  to  return. 
Twenty  years  later  we  find  Pedro  and  his  wife  Maria 
living  in  a  single  room  in  an  overcrowded  slum.  Pedro 
has  half-learned  one  of  the  easier  trades — carpentry, 
bricklaying  or  painting.  They  have  eked  out  a  precarious 
living  only  because  the  husband  could  sell  the  ash  cakes 
that  his  worn  wife  cooked  for  the  workmen  in  a  neighbor- 
ing factory.  Eleven  children  have  been  "sent  by  Heaven" 
in  the  interval.  Six  of  them  died  before  they  had  com- 
pleted their  first  year;  the  remaining  five  are  delicate 
and  demand  constant  care.  Jose  got  two  years  at  the 
primary  school  but  if  the  others  are  to  enjoy  a  hke  privi- 
lege, Jose  must  turn  out  to  work.  Besides,  Jose  is  now 
wearing  long  trousers,  smokes  cigarettes  and  has  devel- 
oped a  taste  for  gambling  and  wine.  Delfina  comes 
next — a  thin,  sallow-faced  damsel  of  thirteen  with  soulful 

77 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

eyes.  She  has  been  making  rapid  strides  at  school  and 
her  teacher  has  begged  that  she  attend  regularly,  but 
there  was  the  new  baby  last  spring  and  the  epidemic  of 
whooping  cough  just  after;  then  came  Rosita's  pneumonia 
followed  by  her  death.  Work  was  scarce  and  the  mother 
simply  had  to  transfer  the  household  cares  to  Delfma. 
What  a  jewel  that  girl  is!  Raquel  is  having  her  chance 
this  year.  A  sprightly  elf  is  Raquel  and  a  greater  favorite 
because  she  is  the  only  girl  they  have  been  able  to  raise 
for  years.  They  cannot  all  wear  good  clothes  but  Raquel 
has  the  percale  finery  and  the  blue  cape  that  once  were 
DelJina's.  Pablito  wears  a  shirt  and  trousers  of  no  par- 
ticular cut  for  he  is  a  street  urchin  who  appears  at  the 
doorway  occasionally  for  a  morsel  of  dry  bread  and  a 
hasty  lecture.  He  slipped  and  fell  into  an  open  sewer 
this  morning  and  is  not  quite  dry  yet.  *'0f  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  sounds  odd  when  you  look 
at  Pablito.  Nora  has  not  yet  reached  three  and  is  not 
quite  steady  on  her  bandy  limbs.  While  her  twin  sister, 
Carmen,  lay  ill  with  scarlet  fever  she  had  to  be  neglected 
and  we  wonder  why  one  was  taken  and  the  other  left. 
Estercita  is  gurgling  and  crowing  from  her  walled  retreat 
in  a  soap  box  on  the  floor.  She  is  a  mass  of  curls  and 
dimples  and,  after  a  bath,  would  capture  the  heart  of 
any  lover  of  babies. 

At  nightfall  they  all  gather  for  their  frugal  meal  of 
soup  and  dry  bread;  in  the  morning  they  snatch  their 
baker's  roll  and  sip  their  coffee  without  milk;  at  noon 
they  surround  the  tureen  and  revel  in  the  steaming 
stew  followed  by  a  plate  of  boiled  beans. 

The  family  cooking  is  done  on  a  charcoal  brazier.  The 
table  is  usually  very  small,  the  chairs  are  of  rough  willow 
with  twisted  straw  seats.  The  beds  are  ranged  around 
the  wall  in  a  common  chamber  and  fortunate  the  family 
that  has  two  small  rooms — most  of  them  have  only  one. 
Imagine,  my  reader,  what  domestic  problems  are  forced 
upon   the   devoted   mother — low  earnings,   high  rents, 

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LATIN  AMERICA    iO-UAV 

heavy  expense,  frequent  epidemics,  poor  sanitation, 
street  temptations,  lack  of  privacy.  There  is  no  cheery 
living  room  with  comfortable  chairs  and  a  bright  Mght, 
no  toys  for  the  children  and  no  room  for  them  if  toys  could 
be  bought.  This  promiscuous  living  is  anti-moral. 
Occasionally  there  is  a  vesper  service  in  the  church  and 
great  care  must  be  exercised  that  the  girls  be  properly 
chaperoned.  The  biograph  has  been  introduced  in  larger 
cities  within  the  past  live  years  but  its  influence  is  far 
from  beneficial.  If  parents  grant  their  consent,  the 
children  enjoy  the  music  and  the  addresses  at  the  evan- 
gelical church.  Sunday  school  is  their  weekly  delight. 
In  Latin  America  childhood  has  few  halcyon  days. 

In  the  country  districts  life  is  even  more  primitive. 
The  midday  meal  of  beans  is  often  served  in  a  huge 
earthenware  basin  while  the  peons  squat  around  and  dip 
their  spoons  into  the  common  fount.  After  the  midday 
repast  comes  the  "siesta" — a  nap  of  an  hour. 

Only  in  the  larger  centers  is  there  any  approach  to  a 
middle  class.  This  means  a  comfortable  house  of  four 
to  eight  rooms,  hygienic  surroundings,  happy,  healthy 
children,  regular  schooling  and  homely  joys. 

Homes  of  the  Rich. — ^The  rich  Latin  American  enjoys 
the  best  that  wealth  can  provide.  He  spends  lavishly 
and  furnishes  with  artistic  taste.  The  home  of  a  wealthy 
Costa  Rican,  Argentinean,  Chilian  or  Brazilian  discloses 
as  much  luxury  and  refinement  as  any  in  the  world. 
Imported  furniture  with  rare  carvings,  expensive  musical 
instruments,  extensive  and  well-selected  hbraries,  the 
latest  vehicles  and  automobiles  are  his.  Rich  rugs  and 
tapestries  harmonize  with  costly  paintings.  The  table 
is  adorned  with  cut  glass  and  silver,  both  irreproachable. 
The  cuisine  is  French  and  the  service  well-managed. 
The  fountain  plashes  in  the  inner  court  amid  a  bower  of 
roses  and  jasmines  and  the  easy  chairs  on  the  veranda 
allure  the  satisfied  guest  to  genial  conversation. 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Mothers  and  daughters,  in  fashionable  frocks,  flit 
about  and  spare  no  pains  in  order  to  entertain  their  guests. 
The  bedrooms  are  airy,  bright  and  well-furnished.  Pious 
hands  have  hung  a  crucifix  or  an  image  of  the  Virgin  and 
Child  as  talismans  at  the  head  of  each  bed  to  ward 
off  ill  fortune.  However,  one  cannot  but  feel  that  should 
Christ  step  down  from  the  cross,  he  would  inveigh 
against  their  heartless  disregard  for  the  rights  and  feel- 
ings of  their  fellow  men  who  happen  to  be  underlings. 

Why  should  a  few  indulge  every  whim  and  flourish 
amid  such  affluence  while  so  many  of  their  brethren 
drain  the  bitter  dregs  of  existence?  The  nabob's  daugh- 
ters are  surrounded  by  every  safeguard  while  the 
cotter's  darling  fights  an  unequal  battle. 

What  is  the  vital  need  among  the  homes  of  Latin 
America?  Certainly  not  love,  for  it  abounds;  nor  diligence, 
for  busy  hands  ply  the  distaff;  nor  courage,  for  brave 
hearts  beat  in  every  breast.  The  outward  semblance 
of  a  sound  regulative  and  Kfe-giving  religion  is  there, 
but  the  Bible  is  closed,  the  family  altar  is  in  ruins  and 
the  inner  shrine  is  closely  guarded  by  a  warder  confessor 
who  is  neither  husband  nor  father.  Mary,  Martha  and 
Lazarus  have  their  counterparts  in  Latin  America:  they 
only  wait  for  the  divine  Guest. 

THE  LATIN  AMERICAN  SPIRIT 

Nothing  is  so  hard  to  analyze  and  appraise  as  the 
dominating  spirit  of  a  people.  In  the  crucible  of  time 
strange  blends  are  produced.  The  parent  stock  from 
Europe  left  their  native  land  during  the  golden  age  of 
Spain  and  Portugal  when  both  lands  had  reached  the 
summit  of  their  glory  as  world  powers  and  their  warriors 
felt  undaunted  before  all  foes.  They  bequeathed  to 
their  progeny  in  the  New  World  a  few  of  the  traditions 
of  European  chivalry.  The  sword  was  their  emblem, 
theirs  the  stirring  battle  cry,  the  thrilling  charge,  the 
victor's  spoils  and  the  right  to  command  the  vanquished 

80 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

peoples.  Manual  labor  was  treated  with  disdain  and  all 
menial  tasks  were  regarded  as  a  token  of  servitude. 
Hence  the  Latin  American  temperamental  heritage  on 
one  side  is  imperious  pride  and  a  mettle  that  is  high.  Add 
to  this  the  dignity  and  gallantry  of  the  grandee  and  we 
further  accentuate  the  type.  It  is  reported  that  there 
are  ten  thousand  mendicants  in  Spain  and  all  of  noble 
lineage,  to  whom  honest  toil  would  mean  a  serious  loss 
of  caste.  Don  Quixote  wavers  not  at  poverty  and  all 
the  embarrassment  it  brings,  but  he  must  preserve  his 
high  ideals  and  announce  to  all  the  world  that  he  is  a 
gentleman.  Let  no  North  American  smile,  for  the  sole 
remaining  hope  of  toning  our  crudeness  and  rudeness  lies 
within  the  gentler  manners  and  speech  of  our  Latin 
American  neighbors. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  new  race  on  the  new  continent 
derived  many  tendencies  from  their  Indian  parentage. 
Like  the  aborigines  to  the  north,  the  Latin  American 
Indian  was  hardy,  brave,  persistent,  patient  but  taciturn, 
sullen  and  vindictive.  He  had  a  long  memory  for  both 
good  and  ill.  The  Indian  strain  has  been  much  the 
stronger.  Latin  America  has  had  frequent  proofs  that 
pure  Indians  like  Benito  Juarez  are  capable  of  states- 
craft.  The  moral  level  is  much  higher  among 
the  primitive  tribes  than  'in  any  mixed  community 
and  it  may  be  claimed  with  perfect  safety  that  no 
Anglo-Saxon  community  can  boast  of  higher  moral 
standard  and  practices  than  those  which  obtain 
among  the  Indians  of  the  tablelands  and  forests.  A 
white  woman  in  an  Indian  village  is  safe  from  annoy- 
ance or  insult. 

The  amalgam  of  these  two  races  has  produced  a  com- 
posite that  is  fixed  as  in  the  case  of  homogeneous  Chile 
and  is  being  constantly  varied  as  in  that  of  cosmopolitan 
Argentina.  Within  the  tropics  we  must  reckon  with  the 
legacy  of  negro  blood,  but  the  intermingHng  of  white 
and  black  has  not  been  general. 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

How  do  these  people  meet  the  emergencies  that  prove 
us  all?  What  is  their  attitude  toward  poverty  and 
disaster?  They  arc  both  stoical  and  fatalistic:  stoical, 
because  it  had  been  the  best  working  principle  among 
the  children  of  Nature;  fatalistic,  because  the  Moorish 
Mohammedans  had  left  the  impress  of  seven  centuries 
on  Spain.  Two  children  die  within  a  week  and  the  mother 
moans,  "We  must  accept  what  fate  brings  and  submit 
with  patience!"  Crops  fail,  business  collapses  or  some 
rascal  defrauds  and  the  sufferer  smiles  grimly  and  shrugs 
his  shoulders  murmuring,  "What  is  there  to  be  done 
about  it  anyhow?"  Reverses  do  not  clip  the  wings  of 
ambition.  The  Latin  American  is  always  ready  to  try, 
try  again.  But  an  attack  that  touches  honor  or  the  family 
will  be  furiously  resented. 

Personalism. — For  lack  of  a  better  term,  we  have 
chosen  this  word  as  the  key  to  Latin  American  psychology. 
The  Anglo-Saxon,  with  his  cooler,  analytical  mind,  can 
sit  down  quietly  and  separate  the  general,  abstract  prin- 
ciples that  explain  life,  but  the  Latin  American  sees  only 
the  personal  agent  who  causes  either  good  or  ill.  In  a 
large  measure  this  accounts  for  the  frequent  revolu- 
tions that  have  become  a  byword.  Since  hero  worship 
is  a  mark  of  strong  peoples,  we  ought  not  to  con- 
demn it  in  Latin  Americans  while  we  laud  it  in  Carlyle 
and  Emerson.  Men  are  the  embodiment  of  ideals.  If 
they  incarnate  good,  they  are  to  be  venerated;  if  they 
are  instruments  of  evil,  they  are  to  be  attacked  with 
implacable  fury  until  every  vestige  of  them  is  removed 
from  the  earth. 

A  friend  is  a  friend  and  a  foe  is  a  foe  to  the  individ- 
ualistic Latin  American.  Here,  too,  lies  the  key  to  the 
missionary  problem. 

Patriotism. — ^Love  of  country  is  the  religion  of  most 
Latin  Americans.    Stronger  far  than  the  tie  of  common 

82 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

beliefs  is  the  passion  for  native  land.  Patrick  Henry's 
alternative  has  been  the  real  issue  before  them  for  four 
centuries  and  every  Latin  American  is  ready  to  die 
rather  than  surrender  his  liberty.  The  stern  grapple 
for  freedom  in  Latin  America  has  lasted  more  than  a 
century  after  poUtical  independence  and  republican 
government  became  realities.  We  fail  to  appreciate  how 
much  thraldom  still  remains  in  these  lands  and  how 
fierce  the  struggle  that  rages  even  to-day.  Aristocracy 
opposes  democracy,  special  privilege  is  arrayed  against 
the  workingman,  the  State  Church  denies  Hberty  of 
conscience  to  all,  and  the  masses  have  been  shamelessly 
exploited  by  the  classes.  But  the  semblance  of  foreign 
interference  will  unite  all  factions  in  defense  of  their 
inahenable  rights.  The  rising  repubhcs  may  be  weak 
and  unstable,  but  they  rejoice  in  their  sovereignty  and 
resent  any  suggestion  that  they  should  not  be  allowed  to 
work  out  their  own  problems  and  commit  their  own 
errors.  The  Monroe  Doctrine  (to  which  they  owe  their 
very  existence)  is  an  impKed  reproach.  Only  when  they 
are  admitted  to  international  councils  as  the  coguaran- 
tors  of  Latin  American  integrity  do  they  feel  duly  recog- 
nized and  honored. 

In  the  A.  B.  C.  Advisory  Commission  the  United 
States  has  tested  their  sincerity  and  competency  with 
undoubted  advantage.  It  was  no  firebrand  but  a  sober 
publicist  that  wished  to  relegate  that  famous  Monroe 
Doctrine  to  the  realm  of  obsolete  decrees  though  it  may 
have  been  an  enthusiast  who  exclaimed:  "Better  far 
that  the  last  Mexican  should  fall  on  the  soil  of  his  fathers 
grasping  the  broken  staff  of  his  national  banner  than 
that  any  power,  however  great,  should  intermeddle  with 
affairs  that  are  purely  Mexican!"  Hitherto  we  have 
failed  to  make  due  allowance  for  the  regnant  spirit  in 
Latin  America  and  it  is  a  hopeful  sign  that  Argentina, 
Brazil  and  Chile  have  attained  such  stabiUty  and  progress 
in  self-government  that  they  are  deemed  worthy  of  a 

83 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

place    by    the    side    of  North  America  in  continental 
politics. 

Enthusiasm  for  Humanity. — At  a  great  public  gather- 
ing a  popular  orator  ventured  to  coin  a  slogan  wliich 
would  serve  to  embrace  the  dearest  interests  of  both 
Americas  when  he  shouted:  "America  for  the  Amer- 
icans!" But  President  Saenz-Pena,  of  Argentina, 
promptly  corrected  him  by  suggesting:  "Latin  Amer- 
ica for  humanity."  Latin  America  has  known  long 
centuries  of  travail;  her  first  throbs  of  liberty  were 
distant  echoes  of  the  French  Revolution  and  democracy  is 
a  vital  issue  to  her  leaders.  To  them  has  been  given,  in 
remarkable  degree,  a  clear  vision  of  human  rights.  Dur- 
ing the  throes  of  the  present  European  War  her  voice 
has  been  the  loudest  in  appeal  for  humane  measures. 
From  Voltaire,  from  Lamartine,  from  Compte  she  has 
learned  what  Burns  has  so  admirably  summarized  in  a 
single  hne:  "a  man's  a  man  for  a'  that."  Latin  America 
has  declared  war  on  tyranny  and  does  not  propose  to 
sign  a  truce  until  all  men  be  free.  Social,  industrial 
and  religious  bondage  may  still  exist  but  she  has  never 
had  a  slave  war  nor  has  she  purchased  slaves  with  the 
pubHc  fund  in  any  republic. 

Attitude  to  North  Americans. — There  is  an  under- 
current of  hostiHty  to  the  United  States  throughout  all 
Latin  American  republics  with  the  possible  exception 
of  Peru. 

Peru  has  been  helped  by  American  capital  and  Ameri- 
can educators,  and,  for  this  very  reason  some  are  ready  to 
allege  that  there  is  an  implied  vassalage. 

Wholly  unwarranted  motives  are  imputed  to  the 
"Colossus  of  the  North."  She  is  suspected,  if  not  openly 
accused,  of  an  imperiaUstic  pohcy;  she  is  taunted  with 
the  reminder  that  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico  are  now  under 
her  control.    Manual  Ugarte  has  sounded  the  alarm  to 

84 


LATIN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

his  compatriots  and  fanned  the  smoldering  embers 
of  distrust  by  hinting  at  a  possible  invasion  and  a  threat- 
ened absorption — peaceable  and  commercial  it  is  true, 
but  none  the  less  to  be  dreaded.  Such  a  bugaboo  always 
throws  some  victims  into  a  panic  and  it  is  not  to  be 
denied  that  their  number  is  considerable  all  over  Latin 
America  to-day. 

One  of  our  immediate  tasks  is  to  dissipate  this  illusion 
and  restore  the  affection  and  confidence  with  which  the 
nascent  republics  once  regarded  their  elder  sister.  The 
War  of  Independence  found  its  echo  from  Mexico  to  Cape 
Horn,  the  moral  support  of  the  newest  nation  of  the  New 
World  was  a  powerful  stimulus  to  the  patriots  in  their 
successful  revolt  against  Spain  and  the  Magna  Charta  of 
each  free  state  was  modeled  after  the  American  Constitu- 
tion. What  afterwards  occurred  to  mar  this  dehghtful 
relation?  A  few  misguided  utterances  of  imperialistic 
orators,  a  few  diplomatic  infelicities,  a  few  forced  collec- 
tions of  debts,  then  the  war  with  Mexico,  the  war  with 
Spain  and  the  Panama  Canal.  In  the  minds  of  many,  the 
term  "Yankee"  is  a  synonym  for  dollar  diplomacy, 
aggressive  commerce,  and  ruthless  disregard  for  the 
rights  of  minorities.  The  average  American  knows  too 
well  how  gratuitous  are  most  of  the  above  assumptions 
but  the  average  Latin  American  still  needs  to  be  con- 
vinced. Every  wise  consul,  every  prudent  tourist,  every 
kindly  host  is  helping  to  improve  relations.  The  Pan- 
American  Union  is  spreading  information  broadcast. 
Boards  of  Trade  are  visiting  and  developing  friendships 
in  various  ways.  Latin  American  students  are  visiting 
the  universities  of  the  North,  points  of  contact  are 
multiplying  and  the  old  rancor  is  slowly  cooling.  How 
best  can  two  continents  be  fused  in  brotherly  confidence 
and  affection?  By  the  sons  of  God  and  peacemakers. 
Since  only  Jesus  could  break  down  the  barrier  between 
Jew  and  Samaritan,  only  love  can  dispel  the  prejudices 
that  lurk  in  South  America.    The  missionary  has  been 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

a  wonderful  minister  of  reconciliation.  What  grudges 
can  be  held  against  a  nation  that  sends  such  emissaries 
abroad?  Genuine  Christianity  in  all  departments  of 
exchange  is  the  surest  bridge  for  the  sentimental  chasm 
between  peoples.  Disinterested  love  is  always  irresistible 
and  invincible. 


86 


CHAPTER  IV 
LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

We  have  already  seen  that  Latin  America  has  been, 
since  its  conquest,  one  vast  Roman  Catholic  parish. 
By  the  rite  of  baptism,  universally  and  continuously 
administered,  by  the  ordination  of  a  priesthood  in 
apostolic  succession,  by  the  organization  of  all  the 
branches  of  ecclesiastical  government  and  the  erection  of 
churches  from  north  to  south,  Latin  America  has  become 
Christian  in  the  judgment  of  the  Roman  Cathohc 
prelacy. 

Can  it,  then,  be  regarded  as  a  legitimate  field  for 
evangelical  missions? 

What  Constitutes  a  Mission  Field? — Before  we  answer 
that  question  we  nmst  determine  what  a  mission  field 
really  is.  If  we  are  honest  with  our  Lord  as  well  as  with 
ourselves,  loyal  to  his  teachings,  and  zealous  to  be  guided 
by  the  example  of  his  first  missionaries,  we  shall  not  long 
be  left  in  uncertainty. 

1.  The  Master  was  plain  and  emphatic  in  his  state- 
ment: "The  field  is  the  world."  "Go  ye  into  all  the 
world."  "Go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all 
nations."  "To  every  creature."  Such  epithets  as  Moham- 
medan, Buddhist,  Confucian,  Catholic,  or  Protestant, 
when  used  as  terms  to  qualif)^  "world,"  are  evident 
misnomers.  "The  whole  world  for  my  parish"  is  a 
Christian  aspiration  whether  uttered  by  Augustine, 
John  Wesley  or  some  believer  in  Madras,  Shantung, 
Edinburgh  or  Detroit. 

Jesus  made  his  gospel  centrifugal.  He  pointed  to  the 
inner  circle  of  disciples  and  then  ou^'vard  to  the  whole 
circumference  of  human  kind. 

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THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

2.  "Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
I  have  commanded  you"  is  a  coordinate  commission 
from  our  supreme  Master.  Wherever  men  and  women 
are  discovered  without  a  saving  knowledge  of  the  truth 
as  it  is  in  Jesus,  there  is  located  a  field  for  Christian  mis- 
sions. 

3.  Any  community,  large  or  small,  becomes  a  mission 
field,  beyond  all  cavil,  when  it  issues  rational  appeal 
to  disciples  of  Christ  in  other  lands  for  their  indispensable 
spiritual  service.  Thus  Europe  was  added  to  Asia  Minor 
as  a  mission  field  when  Paul  saw  the  vision  and  heard 
the  voice  of  the  man  of  Macedonia:  "Come  over  and  help 
us!"  Guatemala  became  a  mission  field  of  our  Church 
in  1882  when  President  Barrios  urged  Doctor  Ellinwood 
to  send  a  missionary  to  that  republic  and  ofTered  to  pay 
his  expenses  to  the  field.  The  vision  was  an  interview 
and  the  tones  of  entreaty  were  wafted  across  the  Carib- 
bean instead  of  the  Hellespont,  but  the  basis  of  the  call  was 
truly  apostolic  to  the  extent  that  it  was  a  plea  for  ambas- 
sadors to  make  Jesus  Christ  known,  and  vital  Christi- 
anity operative  in  home,  school,  and  nation.  Had  our 
Church  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  importunate  chief  execu- 
tive, Guatemala  would  still  have  remained  a  mission 
field  though  unoccupied. 

The  commission  issued  by  General  Sarmiento  to 
Doctor  William  Goodfellow  for  the  organization  of  a 
system  of  Argentine  normal  schools,  with  the  cooperation 
of  thirty  selected  American  women,  was  a  charter  of 
educational  missions. 

After  the  British  Legion  had  turned  the  tide  in  favor 
of  BoHvar  and  won  independence  for  Venezuela  at  the 
battle  of  Carabobo,  Colonel  Frazer,  of  that  Legion,  wrote 
from  Bucaramanga  to  the  Presbyterian  Church  of  the 
United  States  of  America  asking  that  a  missionary  be  sent 
to  Colombia.  He  was  not  asking  for  more  than  every 
creature  has  a  right  to  expect  from  those  who  enjoy 
conscious  sonship  of  a  heavenly  Father,  in  a  new  king- 


,3=^.-: 


A  CONTRAST  AT  CERKTE,  COLOMBIA 


Pagan 


Christian 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

dom  of  brotherly  affection,  through  the  redemption  of 
one  who  said  to  them  "Go!" 

4.  While  a  state  of  civilization  may  be  a  fair  indication 
of  the  extent  to  which  Christ's  life  has  penetrated  within 
a  given  radius  and  while  it  cannot  fail  to  reflect  the  com- 
munity extension  of  the  blessings  of  his  gospel,  neverthe- 
less, what  takes  precedence  over  all  other  marks  of  a 
mission  field  is  the  lack  of  personal  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  daily  loyalty  to  him. 

A  Latin  American  Ambassador  at  Washington  said 
to  the  representative  of  a  Christian  church.  "We  need 
you;  our  burdens  are  greater  than  we  can  bear!"  Car- 
ranza  has  written.  "The  work  of  the  missionary  is  too 
valuable  to  be  lost."  Presumably,  both  advocates  knew 
that  Christian  missionaries  bring  to  any  land  a  message 
for  the  soul,  solace  for  the  oppressed,  strength  for  the 
weak,  relief  for  the  perishing,  courage  for  the  hopeless 
and  nfe  abundant  through  Jesus  for  men  dwarfed,  per- 
verted, engulfed  in  selfishness  and  marred  by  sin.         / 

5.  A  mission  field,  thus  identified,  remains  such  until 
it  can  propagate  Christian  truth  through  its  own  new- 
born sons  and  daughters  witliin  the  territory  it  embraces 
and  so  become,  in  turn,  a  missionary  agency  to  other 
mission  fields. 

Primitive  Faiths  a  Failure. — The  religions  of  the 
Indian,  as  we  have  seen,  were  crude  and  animistic.  Their 
deities  were  capricious  monsters  with  whirlwind  passions. 
Human  sacrifices  were  common  among  the  Incas ;  ruined 
altars  and  urns  that  held  the  hf  eblood  of  the  victims  have 
been  unearthed  around  Cuzco.  They  had  an  elaborate 
symbolism  that  spiritualized,  in  crass  fashion,  the  powers 
of  nature.*  Suggestions  of  their  ethnic  beliefs  and  rites 
are  still  traceable  in  their  pilgrimages  to  the  holy  shrines 
at  Guadalupe,  Mexico,  Copacabana  on  Lake  Titicaca, 


*  For  fuller  details  consult  Prescott,  "History  of  the  Conquest  of  Peru," 
or  W.  H.  D.  Adams,  "The  Land  of  the  Incas." 

89 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AIVIERICA 

Andacollo  in  Chile,  Lujan  in  Argentina  and  a  score  of 
other  Meccas  where  they  rally  every  year  for  the  sacred 
dances  in  the  open  air.  "At  least  live  million  Indians, 
in  remote  and  unexplored  regions,  are  still  as  intact  in 
their  paganism  as  they  were  before  the  eyes  of  the  Chris- 
tian had  looked  upon  the  American  shore."* 

If  outside  pressure  were  suddenly  removed  from  the 
twelve  million  pure  Indians  who  are  in  contact  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  it  is  altogether  probable 
that  there  would  be  a  marked  return  to  paganism  within 
five  years.  The  savage  imagination  pierces  beneath  the 
tawdry  trappings  of  the  modern  image  and  sees  the 
ancestral  god  beneath. 

The  ethical  force  of  the  ancient  religions  has  been 
variously  estimated.  A  remnant  of  it  still  persists  in 
the  sanctity  of  marriage  among  such  tribes  as  the  Aymaras 
and  Caribs. 

Roman  Catholicism  Insufficient. — Nothing  less  than  the 
adequacy  of  the  Son  of  God  with  power  could  have  ful- 
filled the  demands  imposed  upon  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  after  the  Conquest.  The  record  might  have  been 
a  different  one  had  the  Church  of  the  sixteenth  century 
in  Spain  been  a  body  that  cherished  the  truth  of  the  living 
Christ,  and,  constrained  by  his  Spirit,  sought  to  translate 
it  into  life  on  a  new  continent. 

But  the  Spanish  Church  was  a  proselyting  organiza- 
tion which  sought  to  make  conformists  rather  than  con- 
verts. Subtle  in  compromise,  she  adjusted  her  require- 
ments to  the  level  of  the  conquered  multitudes.  Her 
standards  were  not  the  teaching  and  example  of  Christ 
but  the  fair  average  of  human  moraUty.  Failure  to 
achieve  was  not  considered  a  sin  but  rather  a  mis- 
fortune that  called  for  pity;  sin  was  an  offense  against 
the  Church.  By  the  law  of  spiritual  gravitation  she  was 
dragged  down  by  the  masses  she  failed  to  uplift. 

*  Commission  II,  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work,  Ch.  II. 

90 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

The  Church  has  no  social  program  for  the  laity,  al^ 
though  in  a  few  republics  she  is  stUl  the  strongest 
organized  philanthropic  agency.  Under  a  pretense  that 
her  office  is  purely  spiritual  and  her  object  the  saving 
of  souls,  she  has  permitted  positivists  and  agnostics  to 
surpass  her  in  attempts  to  save  lives,  ameliorate  living, 
check  epidemics  and  imitate  Jesus  in  remedial  effort 
among  men. 

Like  the  early  colonizers,  the  Church  enjoyed  an  unprec- 
edented opportunity  to  bless  mankind  and  vindicate  all 
her  high  pretensions.     For  four  centuries  she  has  been     > 
without  a  rival,    both  free  and  favored  in  her  spiritual 
enterprise. 

The  best  of  Roman  Catholics  regretfully  admit  that 
their  Church  has  not  won  any  large  element  wdthin  the 
Latin  American  nations  to  the  Christian  life.  Devout 
Roman  Catholics  have  repeatedly  expressed  their  warm 
personal  desire  that  evangelical  missions  might  aid  in  the 
enthronement  of  Christ  among  the  unconverted  Latin 
Americans. 

Roman  Catholicism  in  Europe  and  America  has  some- 
thing is  common  with  Protestantism;  in  Latin  America 
it  has  next  to  nothing.  The  Christian  teaching  afforded 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  Latin  America  is  so 
obscured,  confused,  adulterated  and  counteracted  by 
error  within  the  same  system  that  only  an  occasional 
noble  soul  breaks  through  the  encircling  gloom  to  find 
the  Life  and  Light  of  men. 

We  cannot  ignore  the  fact  that  the  duties  assumed  by 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  have  been  more  complex 
and  difficult  than  most  superficial  students  are  ready 
to  admit.  The  clergy  began  with  limited  resources  in 
a  new  land  to  wrestle  with  the  problem  of  transforming 
the  wild  and  dogged  Indian  into  a  Christian  and  a 
gentleman.  Next  came  a  similar  task  with  the  African 
slave  and  the  hybrid  population.  Race  contacts  were 
adverse  to  success,  climatic    conditions  were  unfavor- 

91 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

able,  political  advantages  that  seemed  a  buttress  were  a 
barrier. 

To  expect  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  the  Middle 
Ages  to  produce  Christian  citizens  of  the  evangelical 
type  with  which  we  are  familiar,  would  be  (in  the  words 
so  well-known  to  every  Spanish-American)  "to  ask  the 
elm  tree  for  pears." 

The  Lights  and  Shadows  of  Roman  Catholicism  in 
Latin  America. — The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  lent 
cohesion  to  society.  Again  and  again,  her  influential 
clergy  have  prevented  fratricidal  strife.  Her  temples 
have  served  as  the  place  of  meeting  for  whole  countrysides. 
The  pastoral  oversight  exercised  by  the  parochial  clergy 
has  had  its  distinct  advantages.  Until  quite  recently 
they  served  as  recorders  and  registrars  everywhere.  The 
Sisters  of  Mercy  have  managed  all  the  hospitals,  orphan- 
ages and  almshouses  with  commendable  self-sacrifice. 

Many  branches  of  the  pubHc  service  have  been  organ- 
ized and  controlled  by  the  Church.  She  has  wielded 
pubHc  sentiment  and  asserted  a  measure  of  moral  re- 
straint. Some  of  her  priests,  such  as  Morelos  and  Hidalgo 
of  Mexico,  have  been  patriots  and  martyrs.  Others,  Hke 
Las  Casas  and  Anchieta,  have  been  protectors  of  the 
indigenous  races.  Occasional  prominent  laymen  have 
assisted  in  social  reform  movements  and  the  faithful, 
obedient  daughters  of  the  Church  have  been  indefatigable 
in  works  of  beneficence  and  charity.  The  Roman  Catho- 
lic Church  has  always  insisted  on  the  religion  of  the  super- 
natural in  spite  of  the  tendency  to  confuse  it  with  the 
magical.  Her  firm  hand  has  often  repressed  dangerous 
individualism  and  checked  the  demagogue  before  he 
apphed  his  torch.  With  the  scant  apologetic  material 
left  in  her  hands  she  has  combated  atheism  and  modern 
philosophical  fallacies. 

We  could  not  afford  to  lose  a  single  one  of  the  valuable 
contributions  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church. 

92 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

The  dualism  represented  by  her  teaching  is  all  the  more 
evident  as  we  think  of  what  she  has  been  doing  at  the 
same  time. 

She  has  been  intolerant  and  merciless  with  any  who 
opposed  her  despotism.  In  the  days  of  the  Inquisition 
twenty  thousand  people  were  tortured  in  South  America, 
one  hundred  and  eighty-nine  of  whom  were  burned  at 
the  stake  in  Lima.  She  has  monopolized  conscience  and 
set  a  traitor  within  the  home  through  the  confessional. 

She  has  employed  the  boycott,  the  interdict,  and  other 
forms  of  persecution  to  intimidate  men  and  women  who 
have  sought  peace  and  holiness  outside  her  fold. 

In  many  public  hospitals  under  the  care  of  nuns,  a 
Protestant  receives  poor  treatment  unless  he  or  she  is 
wilKng  to  confess  to  the  priest. 

In  the  maternity  wards  the  children  are  forcibly  taken 
away  from  their  mothers  and  baptized  by  the  chaplain. 

A  physician  friend  of  the  writer  once  expostulated: 
*'I  know  the  sisters  too  well.  Do  not  send  that  servant 
to  the  hospital  for  as  soon  as  the  'mothers'  learn  that 
she  is  a  Protestant  they  will  neglect  her  entirely.  She 
has  typhoid  fever  and  two  days  of  inattention  will  cer- 
tainly mean  her  death!" 

The  number  of  those  who  have  been  evicted  from  rented 
homes  and  deprived  of  their  employment  is  legion.  A 
Protestant  public-school  teacher  has  to  fight  a  stiff  battle. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  not  scrupled  to  use 
violence  and  imprisonment  and  at  times,  the  assassin's 
dagger,  the  executioner's  scaffold,*  and  the  murderer's 
bomb,  to  despatch  heretics. 

She  has  been  a  political  rather  than  a  spiritual  power 
all  over  Latin  America  and  her  chicanery  is  so  notorious 
in  Latin  America  that  many  men  have  become  her  antag- 
onists in  politics  and  her  despisers  where  their  souls' 
concerns  are  involved. 

She  has  lowered  moral  standards  by  her  unblushing 

*  There  is  a  small  Portuguese  volume  entitled,  "Anchieta,  the  Hangman." 

93 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  I0l\  LATIN  AMERICA 

commercialism.  Baptisms,  marriages  and  funerals  are 
all  paid  functions.  She  acts  as  archextortioner  when  she 
grants  indulgences  or  chants  masses  for  the  repose  of 
departed  souls. 

She  has  become  a  partner  in  the  lottery  and  other 
nefarious  traffic*  She  has  incorporated  countless  pagan 
rites  within  her  established  practices.  Saint  and  image 
worship  with  their  associated  commerce  have  swelled  her 
coffers. 

She  has  been  the  inveterate  foe  of  popular  education 
all  over  Latin  America  though  she  has  maintained  her 
own  conventual  instruction  everywhere.  She  has  opposed 
the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  vernacular  and 
attempted  to  suppress  its  public  sale.  She  has  forbidden 
the  faithful  to  buy  it  or  to  read  it  and  has  publicly 
burnt  the  Book.  Bible  colporteurs  have  been  stoned, 
flogged,  jailed  and  killed  at  the  instigation  of  the  clergy,  f 

But  her  most  serious  fallacy  is  a  grotesque  and  unscrip- 
tural  Mariolatry.  History  records  how  the  innovation 
was  introduced  into  Europe  at  a  time  when  grim  theolo- 
gians had  so  overemphasized  the  sterner  attributes  of  God 
and  the  judicial  office  of  Christ  that  Christianity  became 
dehumanized  and  repellant  because  the  ge«itler  virtues  of 
Jesus  were  banished  from  popular  thought,  and  the  frail 
sinner  shut  off  from  compassion  and  relief.  The  residue  of 
Greek,  Roman,  Phenician,  Egyptian,  and  Assyrian  god- 
dess worship,  may  have  had  its  influence  as  well.  Roman 
Catholicism  has  formally  recognized  Mary,  "Mother  of 
God,"  "Queen  of  Heaven,"  as  humanity's  Mediatrix. 
But  in  Latin  America  she  has  gone  further,  raaking  Mary 
the  first  person  not  of  the  Trinity,  but  of  a  godhead  of 
four  persons.  A  Brazilian  scholar,  whose  acquaintance 
wdth  Roman   Catholicism   surpassed  his  command  of 

*  The  writer  has  seen,  over  a  moving  picture  show  managed  by  Franciscan 
monks,  the  sign,  "Recreation  Hall  of  the  Child  Jesus,"  and  more  thaii  one 
wine   cellar   directly   beneath    the   altar   of   a   church, 

t  The  imprisonment  of  Francisco  Penbotti  in  Callao  in  1894,  and  the  cold- 
blooded murder  of  Candelario  Nuiiez  near  Donihue,  Chile,  in  1909,  are  only 
two  of  the  many  instances  that  have  occurred  within  our  own  day. 

94 


Our  Lady  of  Andacollo,  Chile 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

English,  wrote  in  tliis  artless  fashion:  "My  countrymen 
are  not  Christians;  they  arc  Virgin-ians."  "We  confess," 
the  Jesuits  taught  their  converts  to  say,  "that  the  Holy 
Virgin  Mary  should  be  held  in  greater  esteem  by  men 
and  angels  than  Christ  Himself  the  Son  of  God."* 

On  a  tablet  beside  the  door  of  the  Jesuit  Church  in 
Cuzco  there  is  the  inscription  in  Spanish:  "Come  to 
Mary,  all  ye  who  are  laden  with  works,  and  weary  beneath 
the  weight  of  your  sins  and  she  will  succour  you." 

In  the  religious  processions  it  is  the  image  of  Mary  that 
is  adorned  with  Worth  gowns  and  precious  sapphires, 
pearls,  emeralds  and  rubies.  The  figure  of  Jesus  has 
neither  garland  nor  costume. 

The  exaltation  of  Mary  is  identified  with  the  Jesuit 
orders  which  preyed  upon  sentimentality,  aesthetic  taste 
and  superstitious  veneration  for  motherhood. 

Romanism  in  Latin  America  has  preached  salvation 
by  good  works  but  fostered  an  ofiicial  religion  which  has 
been  sadly  lacking  in  the  fruitage  of  good  works.  Roman- 
ism has  deified  a  woman  without  exalting  womanhood,  f 

When  they  add  to  tliis  their  well-known  tenet  of  tran- 
substantiation  and  the  "real  presence"  of  the  actual 
body  of  Jesus  in  the  sacrament,  offered  by  the  priest 
as  a  propitiatory  sacrifice,  they  have  dethroned  Jesus  as 
Atoning  Mediator  and  Everliving  Intercessor. 

The  culminating  false  claim  of  official  Romanism  is 
her  vainglorious  contention  that  Latin  America  requires 
no  assistance  from  Protestant  workers. 

Unreached  Areas  in  Latin  American  Life. — ^Let  us  turn 
our  attention  to  the  grave  social,  economic  and  moral 
problems  in  Latin  America  to-day  before  which  the 
Church  stands  reproached,  perplexed  and  impotent. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  not  caused  these  evils 


*  S.  R.  Gammon,  "The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil,"  p.  99. 

t  The  doctrine  of  ^he  Immaculate  Conception  of  Mary  goes  far  beyond 
that  of  the  Virgin  Bxrth  of  Jesus,  for  it  affirms  the  sinless  origin  of  all 
Mary's   ancestors   ab   initio. 

95 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

but  she  has  not  striven,  as  we  have  every  reason  to  expect 
of  Christ's  followers,  to  remedy  them. 

Immorality. — Christianity  is  supreme  in  the  realm  of 
character  and  conduct.  It  not  only  exercises  a  censor- 
ship over  the  chambers  of  imagery  and  dominates  the 
senses,  but  it  makes  both  the  subjective  and  the  objective 
life  pure  fountains  of  refreshing  virtue. 

Latin  America  is  the  land  of  pious  blasphemy.  The 
names  of  God  and  Jesus  Christ  are  common  expletives 
used  with  nauseating  frequency.  One  cannot  converse 
for  ten  minutes  with  the  average  Latin  American  of  even 
the  best  classes  without  having  his  ears  assailed  by  apos- 
trophes that  he  associates  with  the  holiest  exercises. 
"I  honor  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  for  one  thing — for 
her  Holy  Name  societies,"  said  a  manufacturer  of 
Plainfield,  N.  J.  He  had  never  listened  to  the  ordinary 
language  in  Latin  America.  Common  conversation 
reeks  with  foul  insinuation  and  the  most  sacred  subjects 
are  treated  with  a  coarse  familiarity  and  a  levity  that  sug- 
gest unbridled  animalism. 

The  searching  glances  and  the  obscene  comments  of 
the  stylishly  attired  boulevardiers,  as  they  jostle  and  ogle 
the  passing  women,  arouse  the  indignation  of  any  man 
who  has  a  spark  of  chivalrous  regard  for  the  sex  that 
claims  his  protection.  Even  the  children  of  tender 
years  are  exposed  to  this  plague,  and  suitable  protectors 
must  be  provided  for  them  on  the  streets  in  broad  day- 
light. Instruction  in  vileness  for  all  children  is  provided 
gratis.  The  despicable  cowardice  of  these  male  offenders 
is  all  the  more  blameworthy  because  their  effronteries 
cease  if  a  lady  have  an  escort. 

All  classes  are  "very  daring  in  their  speech"  and,  sad 
to  relate,  the  provocation  in  not  always  one-sided. 

Crimes  against  virginity  and  marital  infidelity  are 
deplorably  common  in  Latin  America.  Instead  of  thun- 
dering against  these  crying  evils  the  Church  uses  "the 

96 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

still,  small  voice"  that  shades  into  a  smothering  smile. 
The  convents  receive  all  nameless  children  that  are  left  in 
the  turnstile  cradle  and  no  questions  are  asked  of  depos- 
itors.* But  only  a  small  percentage  of  them  are  heart- 
lessly abandoned  to  substitutes;  children  of  un wedded 
mothers  are  legion  in  Latin  America. 

Assuredly  chmate,  racial  inheritance,  and  unprotected 
poverty  are  strong  factors  in  multiplying  these  unhappy 
conditions,  and  we  cannot  lay  all  the  blame  at  the  door 
of  the  Church.  French-Canadian  Catholicism,  so  closely 
akin  to  Latin  American  Catholicism  in  all  other  respects,  is 
singularly  free  from  this  odium.  But  immorahty  withers 
in  the  consuming  flame  of  Christian  purity.  The  men  of 
Latin  America  are,  as  a  class,  impure  and  immoral  chiefly 
because  they  are  unchristian. 

Illegitimacy. — Illegitimate  births  are  abnormal  in  a 
moral  community.  The  state  law  determines  whether 
a  child  is  "legitimate"  or  "natural."  In  so  far  as  the 
Church  has  failed  to  do  all  in  her  power  to  improve  moral 
conditions  is  she  responsible  for  lapses  in  conduct.  But 
in  Latin  America  the  clergy  have  fought  the  statute  of 
civil  marriage  with  every  weapon  in  their  arsenal  and 
have  thereby  increased  their  accountability.  The  Acts 
and  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Latin  American  Bishops 
in  Rome  1899  (Sect.  588)  declare  civil  marriage  "a 
shameful  and  pestilent  concubinage  {turpis  et  exitialis 
concubinatiis).''  Marriage,  according  to  the  Roman 
Catholic  canon  law,  is  a  sacrament  into  which  none 
can  enter  without  the  priest  and  of  which  there  can  be  no 
dissolution  save  by  death.  They  cannot  derogate  the 
natural  law  that  governs  physical  mating,  so  they  oppose 
civil  contracts  and  make  the  marriage  rite  as  complicated 
and  costly  as  possible.  The  law's  demands  and  the 
law's  delays  make  matrimony  in  regular  form  so  difficult 


*  The  census  of   1890   for   Brazil   shows  that   12,265  babies  were   thus   re- 
ceived. 

97 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIX  AMERICA 

to  contract  that  young  couples  content  themselves  with 
the  sanction  of  nature  or  helplessly  accept  the  benedic- 
tion of  the  Church  which  has  no  legal  value.  Conse- 
quently, their  children  are  enrolled  in  the  registry  offices 
as  "natural"  or  illegitimate.  Before  God,  their  conjugal 
fidelity  may  be  without  a  flaw  and  their  children  as  truly 
legitimate  as  any  in  the  land  but  the  innocent  offspring 
are  branded  for  life.  How  can  a  peon,  earning  eighteen 
cents  a  day,  forfeit  days  of  his  time,  pay  witnesses'  fees, 
a  tax  of  at  least  two  dollars  to  the  priest  and  still  have 
enough  for  a  wedding  feast?  Half  of  Latin  Americans 
are  in  that  class  and  face  that  quandary. 

Therefore,  in  interpreting  the  official  records  of  illegit- 
imacy, let  us  make  a  liberal  discount  for  dishonor  alleged 
where  it  does  not  exist  save  as  a  legal  fiction.  In  Guate- 
mala the  illegitimacy  is  sLxty  per  cent;  Ecuador,  seventy- 
five  per  cent;  Venezuela,  fifty-five  per  cent;  Brazil, 
seventeen  per  cent;  Chile,  forty  per  cent;  Colombia, 
fifty  per  cent.  Has  any  other  land,  be  it  Christian  or 
pagan,  a  record  to  compare  with  tliis? 

Untruthfulness  and  Fraud. — "The  word  of  a  Latin 
American"  conveys  a  doubtful  impression.  There  are 
a  goodly  number  of  men  and  women  in  Latin  America 
who  would  not  stoop  to  deceit  because  honor  governs 
their  speech.  But  the  majority  of  Latin  Americans  at 
their  leisure  would  corroborate  what  Da\ad  said  in  his 
haste.  The  Church  has  decided  that  a  lie  is  a  venial 
and  not  a  mortal  sin.  An  evasive  remark  is  "a  very 
present  help  in  trouble."  Mark  Twain  would  not  have 
been  a  humorist  in  Latin  America  where  picturesque 
exaggeration  is  so  common. 

The  Spanish  language  reminds  one  of  a  bull  ring 
with  so  many  facilities  for  escape  when  a  culprit  has  to 
face  a  charging  fact.  Quien  sabe  ?  (Who  knows  ?) 
and  Como  tio?  (Why  not?)  are  common  responses 
to  an  embarrassing  question. 

98 


LATIX  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

Gambling. — Games  of  chance  are  the  spice  of  hfe  in 
Latin  America.  Of  course,  our  own  sldrts  are  not  clean 
and  we  cannot  accuse  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of 
failure  unless  we  are  prepared  to  indict  the  Protestant 
Church  as  well.  But  the  Romish  body  has  been  the  patron 
of  lotteries  since  the  early  days  of  the  colonies  and  must 
be  held  accountable  for  the  gambling  at  which  she  con- 
nives for  her  percentage  of  gain.  The  writer  entered  the 
Cathedral  of  Montevideo  in  1906  only  to  find  that  one 
asthmatic  friar  was  chanting  a  litany  to  an  empty  church 
while  three  women  were  stationed  near  the  font  of  holy 
water  offering  lottery  tickets  for  sale  to  speculative 
worshipers. 

The  Spaniards  introduced  bullfighting  and  cock- 
fighting;  the  foreigners  brought  card  games  and  horse- 
racing. 

Saddest  of  all,  it  is  the  poor  who  are  the  worst  victims. 
Whether  it  be  due  to  a  desire  for  exciting  pleasure  or  to 
a  reckless  plunge  after  wealth  they  hardly  know.  The 
boys  have  elementary  graded  courses  that  sopn  enable 
them  to  graduate  into  the  senior  class. 

Sunday  Desecration. — ^I'he  Church  has  not  remembered 
the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it  holy.  Surrendering  easily 
to  an  interpretation  less  grievous  to  man,  and  amending 
the  teaching  and  example  of  Jesus,  she  has  declared  it 
a  day  of  recreation  and  expects  nothing  more  from  the 
faithful  than  attendance  at  early  mass.  It  is  the  day  for 
pubHc  games,  for  excursions,  for  mass  meetings,  for 
feasting  and  social  merriment. 

Alcoholism. — In  Latin  America  the  Church  has  never 
arrayed  herself  against  the  Hquor  traffic.  She  could 
not  consistently  do  so  for  the  simple  reason  that  the 
Roman  CathoKc  orders  are  owners  of  vineyards  and 
manufacturers  of  wine.  Like  offenders  are  many  of  her 
influential  members  on  estates  and  sugar  plantations. 

99 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  Church  counsels  temperance  in  the  use  of  alcoholic 
beverages  and  considers  she  has  done  her  full  duty. 
Pulque,  aguardiente,  chicha  and  wine  are  ruining 
the  Latin  American  nations  all  the  faster  on  account 
of  the  Indian  weakness  for  fermented  hquors.  Argentina 
and  Chile  have  large  sections  devoted  to  grape-growing. 
In  Chile,  common  table  wine  is  cheaper  than  milk  and 
within  the  reach  of  any  purse.  There  are  many  consumers 
of  wdne  who  are  habitually  moderate,  but  there  are  more 
who  are  drunkards.  Few  are  the  total  abstainers  in  Latin 
America,  but  it  is  significant  that  almost  all  of  them  are 
members  of  the  evangelical  churches.  After  the  usual 
Saturday  night  and  Sunday  bout  there  are  twenty-five 
thousand  workmen  in  Chile  who  are  unable  to  return  to 
their  accustomed  tasks  on  Monday  morning  while  many 
of  them  do  not  resume  work  until  the  middle  of  the  week. 
Encina,  the  foremost  Chilian  authority  on  economics, 
writes:  "With  few  exceptions,  the  ChiHan  laborer 
gambles  away  or  drinks  up  most  of  his  wages."* 

The  Roman  Cathohc  Church  has  never  endeavored  to 
control  or  check  alcohoHc  excesses  at  her  Church  festivals 
which  often  terminate  in  disgraceful  revelry. 

Epidemics  and  Infant  Mortality. — From  time  to  time 
these  lands  are  scourged  by  devasting  diseases  such  as 
smallpox,  cholera  or  bubonic  plague.  Medical  science  is 
slowly  gaining  ascendancy  over  them  and  sanitary  laws 
are  more  rigidly  enforced.  But  overcrowding  and  defec- 
tive hygiene  produce  frequent  outbreaks.  Malaria  and 
yellow  fever  are  endemic  in  most  of  the  tropical  coast 
ports  unless  some  special  measures  for  sanitation  have 
been  imposed  by  law.  Isolation  of  patients  is  not  con- 
sidered necessary  for  children's  diseases  of  an  infectious 
nature. 

The  mortality  among  infants  in  the  large  citiesis  appall- 
ing.    Of  every  five  infants  who  are  born  in  Santiago, 

*  Quoted  by  E.  A.  Ross,  "South  of  Panama,"  p.  219. 

100 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

Chile,  four  pass  away  within  five  years  after  their  birth. 
The  causes  that  may  be  assigned  for  this  are :  alcohoUc 
parentage,  ill-trained  motherhood,  adulterated  milk, 
open  sewers  and  lack  of  medical  relief. 

The  bereaved  mothers  do  not  grieve  as  would  their 
North  American  sisters  because  they  derive  their  conso- 
lation in  part  from  the  Moorish  fatalism  and  in  part  from 
religious  belief.  Their  usual  comment  is:  "After  all  it 
is  a  comfort  to  think  my  innocent  babe  has  escaped  the 
corruption  of  the  world  and  she  is  still  mine  as  a  little 
angel  {angelito)." 

For  this  reason,  in  spite  of  a  salubrious  climate  and  a 
high  birth  rate  there  is  little  increase  in  the  population 
of  many  of  the  republics. 

The  children  who  survive  are  certainly  hardy  and  fit. 

The  Church  has  made  no  organized  effort  to  preserve 
infant  life. 

Illiteracy. — The  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  hitherto 
flourished  best  in  the  midst  of  ignorance  and  never  has 
advocated  popular  education  except  in  lands  where  public 
opinion  had  been  formed  by  the  evangehcal  bodies. 
Yet  she  has  strained  all  effort  to  capture  the  children  of 
the  influential  classes  for  her  special  schools.  She  has 
been  the  stanch  ally  of  a  soulless  oligarchy  that  has 
withheld  instruction  from  the  masses  of  the  people.  Theo- 
logians have  spoken  of  the  better  classes  as  gente  de 
razo7t  or  "people  with  reason."  All  others  are  described 
by  implication. 

In  the  New  World  she  concurred  in  the  plan  to  humil- 
iate the  children  of  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  born  in 
America  by  denying  them  facihties  for  education.  This 
reduced  the  caste  of  "mestizos." 

Latin  America  has  many  opponents  of  free  schools. 
They  argue:  "Education  teaches  a  poor  man  facts  that 
compel  him  to  think.  Start  his  mind  to  work  and  he 
grows  insolent  and  seditious;  he  demands  better  pay, 

101 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  I<^OR  LATIN  AMERICA 

shorter  hours  and  all  sorts  of  absurd  and  costly  attentions. 
He  is  far  more  profitable  and  pliable  if  he  lets  study 
alone,  and  why  should  we  deliberately  put  into  his  hands 
a  dangerous  weapon  against  ourselves?" 

The  Church  opposes  higher  education  oy  the  State 
because  she  claims  the  process  makes  infidels,  since  most 
educated  men  in  Latin  America  are  anti-Catholic.  But 
this  rampant  hostility  to  everything  ecclesiastical  is 
not  the  fruit  of  education  but  the  aftermath  of 
Romanism. 

If  the  Church  were  not  so  aggressive  in  the  training 
of  wealthy  children  and  so  assertive  of  her  alleged  ''rights" 
under  public -school  laws  in  countries  that  are  over- 
whelmingly Protestant,  we  might  not  suspect  her  of 
willful  and  designing  obstruction  in  Latin  America  where 
the  percentage  of  illiteracy  is  as  follows:  Mexico,  sixty- 
six  per  cent;  Guatemala,  seventy  per  cent;  Venezuela, 
eighty  per  cent;  Colombia,  seventy-five  per  cent;  Chile, 
sixty  per  cent;   Brazil,  seventy-five  per  cent. 

President  Sarmiento  inaugurated  a  policy  and  put  his 
life  into  an  effort  that  reduced  Argentine  illiteracy  from 
seventy-one  per  cent  in  1869  to  forty-eight  per  cent  in 
1914. 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  an  imperium  in  impe- 
rio.  Within  the  state  yet  apart  from  state  control  she 
has  enormous  revenues,  commodious  buildings,  and  a 
host  of  trained  men  and  women  who  could  teach  every 
parishioner  to  read  and  write  within  a  single  generation. 
She  deliberately  withholds  the  minimum  of  protective 
knowledge  from  the  masses.  Let  us  remember  that  they 
are  the  poorest,  neediest  and  most  deserving  classes  in 
all  these  lands. 

At  least  thirty-five  million — half  of  the  population 
of  Latin  America — are  unable  to  read  the  Word  of  God 
if  they  possessed  copies  of  the  Scriptures.* 

The  Roman  Catholic  Church  can  live  without  a  Bible. 


This  is  a  very  conservative  estimate. 

102 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

Can  Latin  America  find  eternal  life  without  God's  reve- 
lation? 

Economic  Pressure  on  the  Poor. — "The  poor  ye  have 
with  you  always,"  said  Jesus,  and  we  know  how  true 
that  word  is.  The  existence  of  unavoidable  poverty  and 
distress  was  intended  to  save  the  rich  from  corroding 
selfishness.  Palestine  was  a  land  of  poor  people  and  still 
remains  so,  but  Latin  America  is  a  bounteous  land  where 
few  ought  to  feel  the  pinch  of  a  bare  minimum  of  existence. 
Listen  to  the  voice  of  witnesses:  "Untold  riches  lying 
at  our  feet  while  thousands  live  and  die  in  the  most 
abject  misery"  (from  Venezuela).  "Colombia  is  a  rich 
land  but  most  people  find  it  a  struggle  to  make  the  barest 
living."  "In  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba  in  spite  of  the  wealth 
taken  out  of  the  country  from  the  sugar  planta- 
tions and  factories  the  masses  are  pitifully  poor."  "The 
small  farmers  in  the  interior  of  Brazil  by  hard  labor  just 
manage  to  keep  body  and  soul  together."  "We  have 
not  yet  reached  more  than  the  poorest  of  the  poor" 
(Chile).  ;Most  of  the  classes  described  would  object  to 
such  an  application  of  relative  terms.  They  deserve  our 
pity  rather  than  our  reproach. 

We  do  not  intend  to  raise  a  discussion  on  economics, 
but  what  duty  has  the  Christian  Church  toward  indus- 
trial justice?  Whence  came  the  movement  toward  profit- 
sharing,  reduction  of  rentals,  price  control,  et  cetera. 

The  Roman  Cathohc  Church  in  Latin  America  controls 
more  wealth  and  property  than  any  corporation.  What 
sacrifices  does  she  make  to/ender  the  wage-earner  self- 
supporting  and  self-respecting? 

She  has  trifled  .vnih.  a  solemn  issue  but  the  growing 
bodies  of  sociahsts  and  anarchists  are  not  trifling  with  the 
Church. 

Irreligion  Among  the  Educated  Classes. — Cultured 
men,  in  the  main,  have  abandoned  the  Roman  Catholic 

103 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Church  in  Latin  America.  The  few  who  remain  faithful 
are  influenced  by  prudential  motives  which  spring  from 
business  and  pohtical  advantage  or  social  prestige. 

It  is  not  moral  turpitude  that  causes  this  repulsion. 
The  recoil  from  priestcraft  has  been  a  healthy  aversion  to 
hypocrisy.  Whatever  the  character  of  the  priesthood 
may  be,  its  reputation  in  Latin  America  does  not  seem 
to  inspire  the  confidence  of  thinking  men. 

How  can  nations  be  won  to  Christianity  and  high 
living  if  the  men  who  lead  in  every  department  of  national 
affairs  are  not  merely  indifferent  but  antagonistic  to 
religion?  For  women  and  men  of  mediocre  minds  the 
educated  deem  rehgion  a  boon,  but  they  claim  to  regulate 
their  own  conduct  by  eclectic  philosophy. 

Viscount  Bryce,  who  enjoys  international  fame  as  an 
interpreter  of  the  life  of  nations,  writes:  "Another  fact 
strikes  the  traveler  with  surprise.  Both  the  intellectual 
life  and  the  ethical  standards  of  conduct  of  these  coun- 
tries seem  to  be  entirely  divorced  from  rehgion ....  Men 
of  the  upper  or  educated  class  appear  wholly  indifferent 
to  theology  and  to  Christian  worship."* 

Rome  contemplates  this  latest  product  of  social 
evolution  with  blank  dismay.  Her  stereotyped  processes 
can  be  apphed  to  all  cases  but  this.  Sincere  men  who 
have  deserted  to  the  enemy  may  be  induced  to  return  to 
Christ  but  never  to  the  Roman  CathoHc  Church  as  they 
find  it  in  Latin  America  to-day. 

Spiritual  Inertia. — PubHc  opinion,  on  moral  issues, 
is  hard  to  arouse  and  harder  to  sustain  in  Latin  America. 

A  pohcy  of  passive  endurance  seems  to  guide  men  when 
any  high  principle  is  involved.  A  lecturer  of  international 
fame  finds  it  difficult  to  secure  a  fair-sized  audience 
when  he  discusses  ethical  problems,  but  let  him  change 
his  theme  and  men  will  flock  to  hear  him. 

Men    go    into    rhapsodies    over   poetry,    philosophy, 

*  "Latin  America — Observations  and  Impressions,"  p.   582. 

104 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

music  or  the  drama,  but  their  higher  aspirations  seem  to 
have  suffered  atrophy.  A  literary  club  will  expend 
large  sums  to  secure  a  popular  orator  but  none  of  its 
members  would  cross  the  street  to  listen  to  a  good  sermon. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church  seems  unable  to  rouse 
them  from  their  settled  apathy. 

Opinions  of  Prominent  Latin  Americans. — Inasmuch 
as  patriotism  is  the  dominating  passion  in  all  Latin  Amer- 
icans we  are  under  safe  guidance  when  the  ablest  and  best 
among  them  make  a  public  proclamation  of  the  most 
urgent  needs  of  their  countries  to-day.  F.  Garcia  Cal- 
deron,  discussing  the  unifying  forces  that  make  for  Latin 
American  soHdarity,  says:  "From  Mexico  to  Chile  the 
religion  is  the  same ;  the  intolerance  of  alien  cults  is  the 
same;  so  are  the  clericalism,  the  anticlericahsm,  the 
fanaticism  and  the  superficial  free  thought;  the  influence 
of  the  clergy  in  the  state  upon  women  and  the  schools; 
the  lack  of  true  religious  feeUng  under  the  appearance 
of  general  behef."* 

"In  my  judgment,  what  has  most  hindered  the  forma- 
tion of  true  democracies  in  Spanish  America  has  been  the 
lack  on  the  part  of  its  leaders  of  a  sincere  desire  and  of  a 
high  and  sustained  effort  toward  the  elevation  of  the  com- 
mon people.  .  .  It  is  not  enough  to  preach  Christianity. 
Christianity  must  be  Hved.  It  is  not  enough  to  say  to  the 
poor  descendant  of  the  Incas:  'Love  and  respect  all 
men  as  your  brothers,'  and  then  treat  him  as  a  slave. 
If  we  put  the  Bible  into  his  hand  we  must  put  with  it 
our  love  and  our  sympathy.  If  we  invite  him  to  live  the 
Christian  life,  we  must  show  him  by  our  example  what 
that  life  is."t 

"That  which  cannot  be  cured,  and  which  foreshadows 
death  is  moral  failure.    And  this  is  the  evil  of  this  country 

*  F.  G.  Calderon,  "Latin  America:    Its  Rise  and  Progress,"  p.  3J7. 
t  Speech  of  Judge  Emilio  del  Toro,  of  the  Supreme   Court,  Porto   Rico, 
delivered  at  the  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work,  February  16,  1916. 

105 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

(Peru).  .  .  We  breathe  a  fetid  atmosphere  and  are 
not  sickened.  The  Hfe  of  the  country  is  poisoned  and 
the  country  needs  a  Hfe  purification.  In  the  state  in 
which  we  find  ourselves,  the  passing  of  the  years  does 
not  change  men,  it  only  accentuates  the  evil.  A  purging 
and  a  struggle  are  absolutely  necessar3\"* 

Ruy  Barbosa,  the  honored  Brazilian  statesman,  thus 
describes  Romanism  as  he  found  it  in  the  land  he  loved : 
"A  new  paganism,  as  full  of  superstition  and  all  unright- 
eousness as  the  mythology  of  the  ancients — a  new  pagan- 
ism organized  at  the  expense  of  evangelical  traditions 
shamelessly  falsified  and  travestied."! 

In  Chapters  V  and  VI  of  ''South  American  Problems," 
by  Robert  E.  Speer,  there  are  copious  quotations  from 
a  large  number  of  Latin  Americans— patriots  who  realize 
the  supreme  importance'of  righteous  living  as  the  pedestal 
of  national  prosperity — and  the  student  is  referred  to 
these  for  further  information. 

The  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work  in  Latin 
America. — On  the  tenth  of  February,  1916  an  historic 
and  epoch-making  Congress  assembled  to  discuss  the 
religious  conditions  in  Latin  America  with  a  view  to  con- 
certed action  based  upon  ascertained  facts.  Prior  to  their 
meeting  an  exhaustive  study  had  been  conducted  by  eight 
conmiissions  of  experts  from  Europe,  United  States 
and  Latin  America.  Among  the  delegates  and  visitors 
were  twenty-seven  of  pure  Latin  American  blood,  one 
hundred  and  twenty-two  North  American  and  European 
Christian  missionaries  to  these  lands,  one  hundred 
and  fifty-five  cooperating  brethren,  board  secretaries 
and  others,  from  the  United  States,  Canada  and  Europe, 
together  with  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight  visitors 
who  face  religious  conditions  in  the  cosmopoUtan  city 
of  Panama  and  the  Isthmus. 


*  Article  in  "El   Sur,"  Arequipa,  November  14,   1914,  entitled,  "Ruin. 
t  S.  R.  Gammon,  "The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil,"  p.  86. 

106 


LATIN  AMERICA,  A  MISSION  FIELD 

The  Latin  American  representatives  were  men  who 
know  their  fellow  countrymen  thoroughly,  who  have 
been  so  profoundly  stirred  by  palpitating  problems  that 
they  have  endeavored  to  solve  them  in  their  individual 
Uvea  and  afterwards  have  solemnly  dedicated  themselves 
to  the  service  of  their  fellow  men. 

They  have  found  in  Jesus  Christ  the  full  satisfaction 
for  the  cravings  of  their  souls.  They  have  witnessed  his 
triumphs  over  the  sinfulness  of  their  neighbors. 

While  they  did  not  minimize  the  task  before  the  Chris- 
tian Church  they  were  fired  with  a  contagious  optimism 
as  they  spoke  of  what  Christ  could  do  for  Latin 
America  to  lift  the  burdens  that  oppress  the  hearts  of 
multitudes. 

In  a  single  afternoon  session  forty-seven  references 
were  made  to  their  need  of  the  living  Christ  to  supplant 
the  dead  Jesus  whose  cross  is  still  the  symbol  of  religion 
in  Latin  America. 

A  fair  summary  of  the  conclusions  of  that  Congress 
are  indicated  in  the  list  of  urgent  appeals  to  Europe  and 
North  America  for  brotherly  cooperation  in  providing 
for  Latin  America: 

1.  A  spiritual  d>Tiamic  to  produce  character. 

2.  A  full   gospel   of   a    risen    Redeemer   for   every 
Latin  American. 

3.  An  open  Bible  in  the  language  of  the  people. 

4.  A  trained  Latin  American  ministry. 

5.  A    Christian  literature — evangelical    books    and 
periodicals. 

6.  Christian  Education. 

7.  Christian  work  for  Latin  American  women. 

8.  Sunday  schools. 

9.  Missions  to  the  Indians. 

10.  Christian  Associations  for  j^oung  men  and  young 
women. 

1 1 .  Special  Christian  ministries  for  the  educated  classes, 
for  the  forty-five  thousand  students  in  Latin  America 

107 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

and  two  thousand  of  their  number  in  North  American 
universities.  In  tones  that  reecho  throughout  two  con- 
tinents the  Macedonian  cry  has  been  sounded.  Those  who 
know  Latin  America  best  and  those  who  love  it  most, 
regard  it  as  one  of  the  great  fields  for  evangelical 
missions. 


108 


CHAPTER  V 
PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

The  Modem  Missionary  Enterprise. — We  have  already 
seen  that  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has  had  its  mission- 
aries in  the  New  World  since  the  land  was  discovered,  con- 
quered and  colonized.  The  great  Evangelical  Church 
was  not  well  organized  until  a  century  afterwards,  when 
the  Reformation  gave  men  a  new  spiritual  vision,  a  new 
objective,  a  new  dynamic  and  a  new  fellowship.  A  return 
to  the  teachings  of  Jesus  and  his  apostles  gave  them  a 
new  program  of  world-conquest  for  the  King  of  kings. 
With  the  larger  plans  for  extending  the  Kingdom  there 
developed  a  fuller  insight  into  the  purpose  of  his  redemp- 
tion and  a  new  spirit  of  service.  The  Protestant  Church 
as  a  body,  in  the  stern  grapple  with  internal  foes,  did 
not  at  once  attempt  her  full  obligation.  When  the  smoke 
of  battle  Hfted,  there  was  a  clearer  outlook  and  whole 
communions,  hke  the  Huguenots  and  the  Moravian  body, 
accepted  the  duties  that  must  follow  salvation  by  grace. 

Foreign  missions  were  not  accepted  as  a  task  of  the 
whole  Church  until  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

Colonization,    the    First    Missionary    Method. — The 

first  Protestant  to  land  on  Latin  American  soil  was  a 
Huguenot  of  noble  birth  named  Nicolas  Durand  de 
Villegaignon,  a  friend  of  Admiral  Coligny.  Through  the 
Huguenot  Admiral's  influence  with  Henry  II  of  France, 
Villegaignon  was  provided  with  vessels  to  carry  a  number 
of  colonists  to  the  New  World.  They  proposed  to  found 
an  ideal  settlement  called  "Antarctic  France"  where 
the  persecuted  Huguenots  might  enjoy  what  the  Puritans 
found  in  New  England  seventy  years  later.  They  sailed 
from  Havre  in  1555  and  in  November   of   that  year 

109 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMii:RICA 

landed  on  an  island  in  the  Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro.  In 
1557  a  second  expedition  was  headed  by  Bois-le-Comte, 
a  nephew  of  Villegaignon.  There  were  three  hundred 
French  Calvinists  in  this  party,  their  number  including 
two  ordained  ministers  and  fourteen  students  from 
Geneva.  This  enterprise  is  identified  with  three  of  the 
great  leaders  of  European  Protestantism,  Calvin,  Coligny 
and  Beza.  Had  it  succeeded,  the  history  of  South 
America  would  have  been  more  like  that  of  her  northern 
neighbor. 

But  Villegaignon,  after  years  of  dictatorial  rule,  finally 
apostatized  to  the  Roman  faith,  treacherously  prevented 
the  landing  of  ten  thousand  other  Frenchmen,  denounced 
his  colleagues  as  heretics,  abandoned  the  colony  and 
returned  to  France  after  having  earned  the  title  "the 
Cain  of  America."  When  in  1567  the  Portuguese  cap- 
tured the  French  island  and  dispersed  the  colonists,  the 
Jesuits  completed  the  work  of  destruction  by  hounding 
the  survivors. 

Among  the  few  refugees  who  escaped  to  the  interior 
of  Brazil  were  Jean  de  Boileau  and  two  companions. 
They  boldly  began  to  preach  to  the  Indians  with  such 
success  that  the  alarmed  Jesuits  captured  Boileau,  impris- 
oned him  for  eight  years  in  Bahia  and,  to  signalize  their 
success  in  stamping  out  the  last  embers  of  heresy,  had 
him  publicly  hanged  in  Rio.  The  famous  Jose  de  An- 
chieta  tied  the  executioner's  knot  and  his  holy  zeal  is 
best  reflected  in  his  own  words:  "Despatch  a  heretic 
as  quickly  as  possible."  Anchieta  is  venerated  as  a  saint 
by  devout  Romanists  but  stigmatized  as  a  "hangman" 
by  others.  "In  those  days  Portugal  was  wont  to  make 
thorough  work  with  heresy  and  heretics,  and  no  vestige 
of   these   thirty  years  of  missionary  work  remains."* 

In  1624  the  Dutch  captured  Bahia,  and  tlie  Dutch 
West  India  Company  determined  to  colonize  and  exploit 
the  territories  adjoining  this  port  and  Pernambuco  for 

•  Quoted  by  Neelv,  "South  America,"  p.   196. 

110 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

commercial  gain  although  they  assigned  a  secondary 
motive,  namely,  "that  a  pure  religion  might  thus  be 
introduced  into  America."  Their  leader,  Maurice  of 
Nassau,  was  a  wise  statesman  who  began  his  work  by 
issuing  his  famous  decree  of  reUgious  liberty.  The  Dutch 
Calvinistic  missionaries  were  most  active  in  their  spiritual 
care  of  the  colonists  themselves.  Some  of  them  how- 
ever, learned  the  Guarani  dialect  and  labored  to  convert 
and  ci\dlize  the  Indians.  The  home  directors  of  the 
Dutch  West  India  Company  did  not  appreciate  the 
possibihties  and  recalled  Maurice  of  Nassau  before  he 
could  consolidate  his  work.  After  thirty  years  of  occu- 
pation Dutch  influence  ended  with  the  battle  of  "Guara- 
rapes"  and  Portugal  remained  in  sole  possession  with 
the  Jesuit  order  in  fuU  control. 

The  Independence  Era. — While  oligarchies  controlled 
both  Church  and  State  there  was  little  hope  of  any 
foothold  for  Protestantism  in  Latin  America  even  though 
the  pioneer  missionaries  were  as  heroic  as  Pizarro  and 
his  fearless  band. 

But  the  dawn  of  the  Independence  era  coincided  with 
the  awakening  of  the  Church  in  Europe  and  America. 
The  political  emancipation  of  Latin  America  is  contem- 
poraneous with  the  formation  of  societies  for  the  trans- 
lation and  distribution  of  the  Bible,  from  which  the  purest 
doctrines  of  human  liberty  are  derived. 

Religious  tolerance  was  adopted  as  an  indispensable 
guarantee  to  citizens  of  a  republic. 

Bolivar  and  San  IMartin  had  committed  themselves 
to  freedom  of  conscience.  Simon  Bolivar  wrote:  "No 
religious  creed  or  profession  should  be  prescribed  in  a 
poHtical  constitution."  It  was  their  honest  intention 
to  open  every  new  republic  to  the  most  liberahzing 
influences  and  none  dared  oppose  the  liberators  during 
the  period,  of  their  military  supremacy.  But  such  a 
radical  program  was  not  so  easily  carried  out  against 

111 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  covert  opposition  of  the  hierarchy  nor  did  it  receive 
ready  acquiescence  from  the  laity  who  were  the  product 
of  three  centuries  of  rigid  Roman  Catholicism.  Hence, 
the  islets  of  Protestantism  were  swept  away  by  the  tide 
of  public  opinion. 

EARLY  EDUCATIONAL  EXPERIMENTS 

James   Thomson   and  the  Lancasterian  Schools. — ^A 

scheme  to  make  all  the  rising  generation  of  these  new 
states  daily  students  of  the  Bible  originated  in  the  mind 
of  Joseph  Lancaster,  a  son  of  poor  and  unlettered  parents, 
who  was  born  in  Southwark,  England,  1778.  He  was  a 
contemporary  of  Robert  Raikes  of  Sunday-school  fame. 
His  own  intellectual  preparation  was  scant  yet  he  founded 
a  system  of  education  which  left  its  impress  on  the  cul- 
ture of  his  time. 

Lancaster  displayed  his  zeal  as  a  popular  educator 
very  early  and,  while  yet  a  youth,  gathered  the  children 
off  the  streets  of  his  own  town  and  taught  them  the  three 
R's  although  his  material  equipment  was  the  poorest. 
He  adapted  the  monitorial  system  so  widely  used  in 
England  and  Scotland.  The  classes  were  recitative, 
the  study  periods  during  the  day  were  a  collective  buzz, 
the  Bible  was  his  textbook,  and  pupil-teachers  his  assist- 
ants. 

His  efiforts  attracted  the  attention  of  George  III  who 
summoned  him  for  a  private  interview  and  warmly 
commended  both  the  aim  and  method  of  Lancaster. 

The  general  application  of  such  a  system  would  have 
made  every  child  in  Great  Britain  conversant  with  the 
English  Bible  and  the  project  was  the  most  ambitious 
of  all  post-Reformation  religious  enterprises.  A  board 
was  organized  in  England  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the 
benefits  of  the  Lancasterian  system  to  other  lands.  It 
was  called  "The  Enghsh  and  Foreign  School  Society." 

The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  just  begun 
its  missionary  work  in  other  lands.    These  two  societies 

112 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

combined  in  their  selection   of   Mr.    James   Thomson 
as  joint  representative  of  their  work  in  South  America. 

He  began  in  Buenos  Aires  only  six  years  after  the  revo- 
lutionary outbreak.  Argentina  was  politically  free  but 
the  struggle  still  raged  in  Chile,  Peru  and  Ecuador. 

The  provisional  government,  after  long  negotiations, 
intrusted  him  with  the  responsibility  of  organizing  all 
the  schools  in  and  around  Buenos  Aires  on  the  Lan- 
casterian  basis.  The  clergy  viewed  the  move  with  jeal- 
ousy yet  they  were  not  in  a  position  to  oppose  Thomson 
openly.  Uruguay  responded  to  his  overtures  by  inviting 
him  to  initiate  the  system  in  Montevideo  under  govern- 
ment patronage.  Director  General  O'Higgins,  of  Chile, 
begged  for  Thomson's  services,  paid  his  expenses  from 
Buenos  Aires,  lending  his  name  and  official  influence 
as  patron.  Later,  he  issued  a  decree  which  contains 
the  following  significant  judgment:  "The  propagation 
of  this  system  holds  out  the  surest  means  of  extirpating 
those  principles  formed  among  us  during  the  time  of 
darkness."  A  local  committee  was  formed  to  promote 
the  movement.  O'Higgins,  in  a  proclamation,  ordained: 
"Of  this  Society  I  shall  be  the  Protector  and  a  member. 
My  first  Minister  of  State  will  be  President." 

The  largest  hall  in  the  university  was  opened  to  him  for 
the  preparation  of  monitors,  and  measures  were  adopted 
for  the  extensive  publication  of  textbooks.  Santiago 
received  a  large  shipment  of  Bibles  and  Testaments. 

San  Martin  was  finishing  the  Peruvian  campaign  when 
Thomson  sailed  north  for  the  old  capital  of  the  viceroys 
(1822).  San  Martin  received  the  missionary  cordially 
and  ordered  the  friars  of  the  Convent  of  St.  Thomas  to 
vacate  within  two  days  so  that  Thomson  might  begin 
in  a  central  hall. 

This  grand,  old  repubUcan  of  Latin  America,  in  a  formal 
presentation  of  the  work  to  the  government,  said:  "The 
men  who  will  be  most  useful  to  South  America  are  men 
truly  religious  and  of  sound  morality." 

113 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Shortly  afterwards  Thomson  wrote:  "The  Bible  is 
now  sold  very  near  the  place  where  the  infamous  Inquisi- 
tion held  its  sessions." 

The  influence  of  the  Bible  among  the  Roman  Catholics 
themselves  was  so  widespread  that  a  clerical  member  of 
the  commission  that  drafted  the  Constitution  of  Peru 
used  I  Cor.  1  :  12,  13  as  a  basis  for  his  appeal  that  the 
article  governing  religion  should  read  "The  rehgion  of 
Jesus  Christ  is  the  religion  of  the  State."  But  Jesuitical 
influence  was  too  strong  and  crafty  for  this  edict  of  toler- 
ance and  the  formula  that  was  finally  adopted  found  its 
way  into  most  of  the  constitutions  in  Latin  America. 
It  runs:  "The  Roman  Cathohc  Apostolic  Religion  is  the 
religion  of  the  State  and  the  exercise  of  every  other  is 
prohibited." 

But  Thomson  was  able  to  gather  two  hundred  children 
into  his  central  school  before  he  passed  on  to  Ecuador 
where  he  was  weU  received  and  was  able  to  sell  copies 
of  the  Scriptures  to  a  number  of  the  clergy  and  influ- 
ential citizens. 

In  the  city  of  Quito  he  discovered  a  friar  who  had  been 
exiled  for  his  advanced  views  and  had  learned  the  Lan- 
casterian  system  abroad.  This  brother  already  had  a 
school  established  in  Bogota.  A  Bible  society  was  organ- 
ized here  under  government  patronage.  The  governor 
of  the  province  bought  fifty  New  Testaments  for  distribu- 
tion as  textbooks  among  the  children.  The  committee 
which  had  charge  of  Bible  distribution  in  Bogota  was 
composed  of  twenty  members,  ten  of  whom  were  priests! 
Bohvar  transformed  the  Ocopa  college  of  friars  into  a 
Lancasterian  teacher-training  school  for  the  entire  state. 

The  city  of  Caracas  had  enjoyed  the  advantage  of 
Joseph  Lancaster's  presence  for  a.  period.  The  work 
here  was  personally  directed  by  the  founder  who  after- 
wards raised  a  fund  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  for  its 
extension. 

In  Mexico  the  first  Lancasterian   school  was  opened 

114 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

on  the  twenty-second  of  August,  1822.  When  the  govern- 
ment of  Mexico  had  witnessed  the  success  achieved 
among  the  three  hundred  children  under  Lancasterian 
teaching  they  made  further  advance  possible  by  granting 
the  large  and  beautiful  Bethlehem  convent  as  head- 
quarters for  a  second  and  larger  school  for  six  hundred 
and  sixty  pupils.  In  addition,  they  planned  to  extend 
the  system  so  that  every  town  and  village  throughout 
Mexico  might  have  a  Lancasterian  school,  a  printing 
press,  and  a  free  chapel. 

In  1823  the  lessons  used  in  London  were  introduced 
into  the  Mexican  schools.  They  were  extracts  from  the 
Bible,  without  comment. 

In  all  these  republics  collateral  instruction  was  fur- 
nished, but  the  Bible  was  used  wherever  it  would  serve 
as  a  text. 

Abiding  Influence. — It  would  be  difficult  to  tabulate 
the  general  results  of  this  experiment.  Mr.  Thomson 
returned  to  England  in  1826.  He  left  no  trained  succes- 
sors who  were  imbued  with  his  own  spirit  and  the  few 
Englishmen  whom  he  had  sent  to  Latin  America  soon 
grew  discouraged.  Only  William  Morris,  in  his  schools 
for  the  poorer  children  of  Buenos  Aires,  has  preserved 
a  few  of  the  outstanding  features  of  the  Lancasterian 
system.  Thomson  attempted  more  than  any  man 
could  have  hoped  to  carry  out  through  cooperating  com- 
mittees who  were  men  of  no  special  fitness  and  who  were 
under  the  domination  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church 
which  was  striving  after  a  free  field  for  its  own  system. 
He  began  many  schools  but  never  perfected  one  of  them. 
Gradually  the  coils  tightened  about  the  evangeHcal 
institution  and  it  was  strangled  by  political  and  clerical 
pressure.  It  received  a  warm  welcome  because  it  pur- 
ported to  be  educational;  it  met  with  a  violent  death 
by  priestly  sufi"ocation  because  it  was  evangelical.  By 
reason  of  the  low  fees  that  had  been  collected  and  the  gra- 

115 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

tuitous  instruction  furnished  to  most  of  the  Lancasterian 
pupils  it  helped  the  general  tendency  to  consider  education 
a  government  philanthropy — a  tendency  which  persists 
all  over  Latin  America  and  makes  it  difficult  to  collect 
taxes  for  school  purposes. 

Discipline  was  strict  and  salutary;  this  produced  a 
temporary  improvement  in  morals.  The  Bible  was  more 
widely  read  than  ever  before  in  the  New  World.  The 
impulse  given  to  Bible  distribution  was  strong.  Auxiliary 
Bible  societies  were  established  in  Buenos  Aires,  San- 
tiago, Valparaiso,  Lima,  Guayaquil,  Quito  and  Bogota 
and  thousands  of  Bibles  were  put  into  circulation.  This 
marks  the  beginning  of  effort  on  the  part  of  the  British 
and  Foreign  Bible  Society  to  scatter  the  Word  broad- 
cast over  Latin  America. 

The  Lost  Opportunity. — ^A  resolute  band  of  Christian 
workers  might  have  pressed  the  advantage  secured  by 
Thomson  and  have  laid  the  foundations  of  a  successful 
evangelical  enterprise  at  a  time  when  all  circumstances 
seemed  to  favor  their  cause.  Don  Domingo  Amunategui 
Solar,  rector  of  the  University  of  Chile,  who  has  written 
the  most  valuable  work  we  possess  from  the  vie^vpoint 
of  a  Latin  American,  considers  that  the  withdrawal  of 
Thomson  signified  the  failure  of  evangelicalism  to  grasp 
her  scepter  and  ventures  this  sweeping  judgment:  "And 
thus  passed  forever  the  Golden  Age  of  Protestantism  in 
South  America." 

A  tide  of  reaction  followed;  the  Church  tried  to  oblit- 
erate every  trace  of  the  system.  To-day,  a  century  later, 
we  are  better  prepared  to  enter  in.  Large  bodies  of  men 
now  openly  favor  Biblical  study  and  moral  discipline 
in  the  schools,  and  the  land  may  still  be  possessed  for 
Christ  and  true  education.  From  one  of  Thomson's 
letters  written  at  Lima  we  cull  an  appeal  that  comes  to 
our  own  generation  with  added  force: 

"What  an  immeasurable  field  is  South  America!    And 

116 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

how  white  to  the  harvest!  I  do  not  think  that  since  the 
world  began  there  ever  was  a  finer  field  for  the  exercise 
of  benevolence  in  all  its  parts.  The  man  of  science,  the 
morahst,  the  Christian  have  all  fine  scope  here  for  their 
talents.  God,  who  has  opened  the  door  will  surely 
pro\ide  laborers!" 

A  Tentative  Efifort. — In  1835  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  sent  Rev.  Fountain  E.  Pitts  to  inspect  the  east 
coast  and  report  on  the  outlook  for  an  evangelical  mission 
there.  During  his  short  stay  in  Rio  and  Buenos  Aires 
he  met  with  such  a  favorable  response  that  he  recom- 
mended, on  his  return,  that  the  Church  should  establish 
missions  on  the  east  coast. 

In  1837  Rev.  D.  P.  Kidder  arrived  in  Rio.  His  work 
was  chiefly  that  of  Bible  circulation.  He  has  preserved 
many  incidents  of  that  pioneer  enterprise  in  his  interesting 
book,  "Brazil  and  the  Brazilians."  Great  was  the 
demand  for  the  Word  of  God  in  those  days ;  people  came 
from  long  distances  to  purchase  this  talismanic  book. 

A  Permanent  Work. — But  the  first  mission  agency 
that  has  done  continuous  service  until  the  present  day 
was  launched  by  Doctor  Robert  Reid  Kalley,  a  Scotch 
physician,  who  was  expelled  from  the  Island  of  Madeira, 
where  he  had  been  eminently  successful,  and  had  sought 
the  shores  of  Brazil,  where  he  believed  a  great  work  could 
be  done  among  people  who  spoke  Portuguese.  Although 
he  arrived  in  Rio  as  a  refugee  he  soon  returned  to  his 
mission  work  stimulated  by  some  of  his  old  parishioners 
who  had  preceded  him.  For  this  reason  we  may  set  down 
1855  as  the  epoch-marking  year.  Since  that  time  the 
work  has  continued  to  increase.  Doctor  Kalley  pos- 
sessed a  rare  combination  of  gifts.  He  was  a  skillful 
physician,  an  accomplished  linguist,  a  talented  poet  and 
musician,  and  a  Christian  of  commanding  character. 
The  BraziHans  rallied  about  him,  and  soon  he  had  a  con- 

117 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  I'OH  LATIN  AMERICA 

gregation  which  he  served  for  twenty-one  years.  One 
outcome  of  Doctor  Kalley's  work  was  the  organization 
of  a  voluntary  interdenominational  missionary  society 
in  Scotland,  known  as  ''Help  for  Brazil,"  which  still 
cares  for  allotted  sections  in  Pernambuco,  Espirito  Santo, 
Rio  de  Janeiro  and  Minas   Geraes. 

A  Few  of  Those  Who  Blazed  the  Trails. — If  space 
were  available,  great  stories  might  be  told  of  the  pioneers 
of  evangelical  missions  who,  sent  out  by  our  own  and 
sister  churches,  opened  paths  into  many  of  the  countries 
of  Latin  America. 

The  pioneer  apostle  to  Cliile  was  Rev.  David  Trum- 
bull, D.D.,  who  came  to  Valparaiso  in  1845  in  behalf 
of  the  Foreign  Evangelical  Society.  He  was  of  patrician 
birth,  a  man  of  keen  and  disciplined  intellect,  of  a 
masterful  will,  and  yet  withal  polished  and  courteous, 
with  a  personality  that  charmed  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men.  The  west  coast  of  South  America  at  that  time 
had  not  a  single  missionary.  Doctor  Trumbull's  mission 
was  primarily  for  the  seamen  and  the  foreigners  who  spoke 
English.  But  his  compassionate  heart  was  stirred  as 
he  dwelt  in  the  midst  of  religious  conditions  that  would 
harrow  the  soul  of  any  devout  man.  While  he  succeeded 
in  building  up  a  strong  Union  church  in  the  wealthy 
foreign  community  in  Valparaiso,  he  was  not  content. 
He  made  repeated  appeals  to  America  for  aid  in  the 
evangeUzation  of  the  Chilians,  and  reenforcements  were 
granted  him  later.  Meanwhile  he  took  advantage  of 
his  wide  acquaintance  and  strong  personal  influence,  and 
labored  alongside  of  public-spirited  citizens  of  Chile  in 
a  series  of  successful  campaigns  which  culminated  in  the 
reform  laws  of  civil  marriage  and  lay  cemeteries  and  led 
to  a  degree  of  tolerance  in  the  matter  of  worship. 

In  1873  the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union 
transferred  all  its  interests  to  the  Presbvterian  Church, 
United  States  of  America. 

118 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

Brazil  was  entered  in  1859  by  Rev.  A.  G.  Simonton 
who  landed  in  Rio  as  emissary  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  The  Brazilians  of  to-day  regard  Mr.  Simonton 
as  the  Evangelical  Patriarch.  All  who  knew  him  are 
unstinted  in  their  praise  of  this  servant  of  Christ.  He 
made  a  lasting  impression  on  the  land.  Like  every  suc- 
cessful missionary  Mr.  Simonton  possessed  rare  and 
well-balanced  gifts  of  both  mind  and  heart.  A  Pres- 
byterian church  was  organized  in  1862.  In  1865  after 
Mr.  Simonton  had  been  cheered  by  the  arrival  of  Rev. 
A.  L.  Blackford,  and  Rev.  G.  W.  Chamberlain,  the 
Presbytery  of   Rio   de  Janeiro  was  organized. 

After  the  Civil  War  had  divided  the  Presbyterians  of 
the  North  and  South,  the  Southern  Presbyterian 
Church  undertook  responsibilities  in  the  promising  field 
of  Brazil.  Rev.  Edward  Lane  sailed  for  Brazil  in  1869 
and  established  at  Campinas,  a  flourishing  city  in  the 
State  of  Sao  Paulo,  his  headquarters  for  work.  His 
comrade,  Rev.  G.  N.  INIorton,  specialized  in  school  work, 
and  though  early  efforts  in  this  department  were  not  as 
successful  as  the  founder  had  hoped,  the  fruitage  of  his 
pioneer  work  is  found  to-day  in  the  prosperous  schools 
scattered  through  ten  states,  and  upheld  with  a  rare 
degree  of  efficiency  by  Mr.  iSIorton's  successors.  Another 
forerunner  was  Rev.  J.  Rockwell  Smith,  who  began  his 
important  work  that  has  never  ceased  to  grow  in  and 
around  Pernambuco. 

In  response  to  the  plea  of  Colonel  Eraser,  sumy  comrade 
of  Bolivar,  the  Presbyterian  Board  sent  Rev.  H.  B. 
Pratt  to  Bogota,  Colombia,  in  1856.  Mr.  Pratt  died 
in  1913  after  almost  sLxty  years  of  unremitting  fidel- 
ity to  his  task  as  missionary,  translator  of  the  Bible, 
and  author  of  commentaries  on  the  Bible.  ^Ir.  Pratt 
enjoys  a  wide  reputation  in  the  Spanish-speaking  evan- 
gelical world. 

To  BoHvia  the  gospel  was  brought  by  a  colporteur  of 
the  American  Bible  Society  named  Jose  Mongiardino. 

119 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Although  he  had  been  warned  not  to  cross  with  the 
Bible  from  the  Argentine  frontier  into  Bolivia,  he  tramped 
as  far  as  Sucre  and  sold  out  his  entire  stock.  But  a  high 
ecclesiastical  functionary,  the  Vicario  Foraneo  of  Gota- 
gaita,  had  declared  that  the  Bible  agent  would  never 
escape  from  Bolivia  alive.  In  a  lonely  place  on  the  road 
he  was  murdered  by  two  cutthroats  who  had  been  hired 
by  the  priesthood.  The  Church  authorities  at  Gotagaita 
refused  interment  for  his  body  in  the  cemetery,  so  it  was 
buried  outside  the  wall  between  the  graves  of  a  murderer 
and  a  suicide.  In  1883  Mongiardino's  grave  was  visited 
by  Andrew  M.  Milne,  the  veteran  agent  of  the  American 
Bible  Society,  in  company  with  Francisco  Penzotti,  the 
intrepid  ItaHan  colporteur.  They  bared  their  heads 
and  consecrated  their  lives  anew  to  the  service  which 
had  claimed  their  martyred  brother.  In  1885  they  went 
around  the  entire  continent  selling  Bibles,  and,  though 
rejected  in  Ecuador,  were  able  to  make  some  sales  in  Peru. 
As  late  as  1888  there  was  not  a  single  aggressive  evan- 
gelical worker  in  Peru,  Bolivia  or  Ecuador.  About  this 
time  Penzotti  was  arrested  for  selling  Bibles  and  preach- 
ing heretical  doctrine;  he  was  imprisoned  for  eight  months 
in  Callao,  the  port  of  Lima.  Through  diplomatic  inter- 
vention he  was  released,  but  his  case  never  was  decided. 
The  full  fruition  of  his  suffering  was  reached  in  Novem- 
ber 1915  when  the  Constitution  of  Peru  was  amended  so 
as  to  permit  freedom  of  worship.* 

President  Alfaro  of  Ecuador  had  been  deeply  touched 
by  reading  the  Bible,  which  a  Protestant  missionary 
had  given  him  on  one  of  the  coast  steamers.  In  1896 
Ecuador  annulled  the  Papal  Concordat,  established  reli- 
gious liberty  by  constitutional  enactment,  and  several 
American  societies  entered  in.  In  1899  the  government 
engaged  Dr.  Wood,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission 


*  One  of  the  Centennial  publications  of  the  American  Bible  Society  is  the 
autobiography  of  Rev.  Francisco  Penzotti.  It  will  be  supplied  free  to 
leaders  of  Mission  Study  classes.  Address  Bible  House,  Astor  Place,  New 
York  City. 

120 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

in  Buenos  Aires,  to  organize  a  system  of  normal  schools 
with  foreign  Protestants  as  teachers.  But  Alfaro  was 
overthrown  by  the  clerical  party  and  Ecuador  has  been 
sadly  neglected  and  woefully  undermanned  ever  since. 
There  is  not  a  single  evangelical  church  building  in  the 
entire  republic. 

In  Mexico,  Miss  Melinda  Rankin  first  ventured  across 
the  border  with  the  book  that  knows  no  international 
boundaries.  Organized  work  was  undertaken  later  and 
was  recognized  and  aided  by  President  Juarez.* 

In  Venezuela,  Doctor  Andrew  M.  Milne  and  Francisco 
Penzotti,  of  the  American  Bible  Society,  opened  work 
by  visiting  thirteen  cities  and  towns  and  selling  twenty- 
SLX  hundred  and  sixty  copies  of  the  Scriptures. 

Paraguay  invited  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Mission  in 
Buenos  Aires  to  establish  both  churches  and   schools. 

In  1888,  responding  to  an  appeal  from  Captain  Allen 
Gardiner,  a  party  sent  out  by  the  South  American 
Society  under  W.  Barbrooke  Grubb  went  unescorted 
into  the  interior  of  Paraguay  and  began  the  study  of 
the  language  which  they  had  to  reduce  to  writing.  The 
dangers  faced  by  these  men  in  perils  of  the  savage  world 
remind  one  of  the  annals  of  Paton.  Grubb  is  the  Dan 
Crawford  of  the  Island  Republic  and  his  illustrated 
volume,  "Among  the  Indians  of  the'Parguayan  Chaco," 
is  crarmned  with  thrilling  escapades  and  minute  descrip>- 
tions  of  a  fascinating  people. 

Uruguay  has  enjoyed  evangelical  influences  from  her 
earUest  history,  owing  to  the  interest  displayed  by  the 
English  residents. 

In  1868  Doctor  J.  F.  Thomson,  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  the  first  Spanish-speaking  missionary 
of  that  communion,  founded  the  mother  church  at  Monte- 
video which  is  now  the  center  of  a  thriving  and  influential 
congregation,  mission,  and  school  system. 

*  For  full  information  concerning  the  evangelical  movement  sec  "Mexico 
To-Day,"  by  G.   B.   Winton. 

121 


rilE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIX  AMERICA 

Here,  more  than  in  any  republic,  the  educated  and 
wealthy  classes  have  indentified  themselves  with  the 
evangelical  movement.  The  Waldensian  Church  has  a 
flourishing  colony  in  the  south. 

Bible  Societies.— It  would  be  impossible  to  overstate 
the  contribution  of  the  Bible  societies  to  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  Latin  America.  James  Thomson  was  the  advance 
agent  of  the  great  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society 
which  has  done  as  much  in  opening  missions  as  any 
Board. 

Doctor  Andrew  M.  Milne,  General  Agent  of  the  Amer- 
ican Bible  Society,  has  been  called  the  Livingstone  of 
South  America  on  account  of  his  long  journeys  among 
the  Indian  tribes  through  the  unexplored  interior. 

Without  the  preliminary  scouting  of  the  colporteur 
the  missionary  enterprise  would  be  much  more  difficult. 
In  order  to  sell  the  Bible  it  is  necessary,  first  of  all,  to 
announce  its  contents  and  convince  men  that  the  Word  of 
God  is  what  they  need  for  their  highest  welfare.  The 
best  Bible  sellers  are  the  best  impromptu  street  preachers. 
Since  it  is  a  case  of  the  single  colporteur  against  the  pop- 
ulace, he  must  be  a  man  of  unusual  grace  and  tact  to  win 
over  his  hearers.  The  only  complete  record  of  the  heroism 
of  these  men  will  be  found  in  the  heavenly  register. 
Let  us,  in  our  fancy,  follow  them  across  the  parched  sands 
of  the  desert,  toil  with  them  across  the  uplands  and  over 
the  mountain  trails,  suffer  with  them  the  privations  that 
arise  from  heat  and  cold,  from  hunger  and  thirst,  from 
fatigue  and  sickness,  consider  how  ceaselessly  they  are 
persecuted  and  how  poorly  they  are  remunerated,  and 
then  only  shall  we  understand  what  men  can  do  for  a 
Master  who  gives  them  souls  for  their  hire. 

Among  these  faithful  servantsof  God  there  has  not  risen 
a  greater  than  the  worthy  head  of  the  La  Plata  Agency 
of  the  American  Bible  Society,  Rev.  Francisco  Penzotti. 
The  narrative  of  his  abundant  labors  would  fill  many 

122 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

a  page  and  would  make  the  most  interesting  reading. 
Stripes  and  imprisonments  have  been  his  portion  but 
he  still  hves  and  has  been  permitted  to  rejoice  over 
the  growth  of  Httle  groups  to  whom  he  first  preached 
the  unsearchable  riches  of  Christ. 

He  languished  for  nearly  a  year  in  a  filthy  felon's 
cell  in  Callao  but  the  Government  of  Peru  in  1915 
amended  the  Constitution  so  that  no  man  can  be  forbid- 
den to  preach  Christ  in  all  the  repubhc. 

In  his  ingenuous  style  ]\Ir.  Penzotti  writes  of  the  general 
Romish  attitude  toward  the  sale  of  the  Bible:  "It  is 
well  known  that  the  Roman  Catholic  clergy  persecute 
the  Scriptures  more  than  Saul  persecuted  David,  and 
they  were  able  to  destroy  perhaps  three  quarters  of  the 
copies  we  distributed  in  our  earlier  trips. 

'^I  have  noticed  that  while  the  priests  burn  the  Bibles, 
the  people  take  their  images  of  all  sorts  and  sizes  and  put 
them  into  the  fire,  at  the  same  time  abandoning  their 
sins." 

The  Bible  is  the  precursor  of  the  Christian  Church  all 
over  Latin  America  and  well  do  the  hierarchy  realize 
that  the  reading  of  the  Bible  means  eventual  separation 
from  Rome.  Gil  Diaz,  one  of  the  oldest  representatives 
of  the  British  and  Foreign  Society  in  Chile,  relates  the 
following  incident:  "While  I  was  offering  my  books  for 
sale  a  well-dressed  gentleman  approached  me,  inquired 
the  prices  of  all  the  Bibles  I  carried  and  finally  bought 
them  all.  With  his  arms  full  of  books  he  rushed  to  the 
river  near  by  and  threw  them  all  into  the  stream.  You 
ought  to  have  seen  the  people  scrambling  after  them  and 
fishing  them  out  of  the  shallow  water." 

On  the  Mosquitia  Coast,  Central  America,  Rev. 
Alexander  Henderson,  who  was  sent  by  a  commercial 
firm  in  1834,  made  his  ministry  one  of  Bible  distribution 
and  left  a  worthy  successor  in  Frederick  Crowe,  who 
carried  the  Word  up  and  down  the  coast  at  the  risk  of 
his  own  Hfe. 

123 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Interdenominational  Missions. — Our  space  does  not 
admit  of  extended  reference  to  the  fields  occupied  by 
interdenominational  and  independent  bodies.  Most  of 
them  have  entered  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
yet  all  of  them  have  been  able  to  find  almost  unlimited 
territory  which  is  not  yet  occupied.  One  of  the  practical 
results  of  the  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work  in 
Latin  America  will  be  an  organized  effort  to  coordinate 
activities  so  that  the  fullest  return  may  be  obtained  for 
the  lives  that  are  being  spent  in  Latin  America. 

All  of  these  organizations  have  been  constrained  to 
undertake  their  tasks  because  the  need  was  so  obvious. 

The  South  American  Evangelical  Union  has  been  able 
to  combine  the  work  of  several  British  societies  and  form 
a  strong  evangelical  mission  for  Peru,  Argentina,  and 
Ecuador. 

The  Christian  and  Missionary  Alliance  has  been  active 
in  Ecuador,  Argentina,   Chile,  Brazil,  and  Venezuela. 

The  Plymouth  Brethren  are  quietly  witnessing  and 
teaching  the  truth  in  various  centers. 

The  Salvation  Army  has  extended  its  campaigning 
beyond  the  British  possessions  in  the  Caribbean  and 
has  entered  the  congested  cities  in  Brazil,  Argentina, 
Chile  and  Peru. 

Missions  for  seamen  are  conducted  by  British,  Amer- 
ican and  German  societies  in  almost  all  the  principal 
ports. 

The  Young  Men's  Christian  Association  has  now 
branches  in  Rio,  Buenos  Aires,  Sao  Paulo,  Pernambuco, 
Montevideo,  Valparaiso  and  a  beginning  has  been  made 
in  Santiago,  Chile.  Foreigners  predominate  among  their 
membership  in  the  early  stages  of  development  but  their 
effort  has  been  to  reach  the  young  men  of  these  lands 
and  the  response  is  more  gratifying  each  year.  They 
also  have  set  apart  special  secretaries  for  the  student 
classes  and  are  the  only  arm  of  the  Church  that  has  a 
definite  program  for  bringing  men  who  are  ahenated  from 

124 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

the  Church  into  living  fellowship  with  Christ  and  positive 
Christian  service  for  their  fellow  men.  The  Young  Men's 
Cliristian  Association  holds  an  annual  encampment  at 
Piriapolis,  Uraguay,  where  they  aim  to  bring  selected 
leaders  in  the  intellectual  world  face  to  face  with  moral 
and  spiritual  problems. 

In  1906  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association 
began  its  work  in  Buenos  Aires  among  the  multitudes 
of  women  who  needed  Christian  protection  and  nurture 
in  that  immense  city.  To-day  their  membership  is 
seven  hundred,  composed  of  twenty-one  nationalities. 
They  are  hoping  to  extend  the  Association  to  many 
other  cities. 

MISSIONS  TO  THE  INDIANS 

There  are  at  least  three  hundred  and  fifty  tribes  of 
Indians  in  Latin  America.  The  Roman  Catholic  Church 
has  not  succeeded  in  touching  their  life.  Many  tribes 
are  known  only  through  tales  from  venturesome  travelers. 
The  discovery  of  two  unknown  tribes  was  reported  on 
the  day  after  the  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work 
closed  (February  20,  1916). 

Few  special  agencies  exist  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  aborigines. 

Captain  Allen  Gardiner. — One  imperishable  name  stands 
out  on  the  Roll  of  Honor  for  Latin  America.  It  is  that 
of  Captain  Allen  Gardiner  of  the  Royal  Navy.  Of 
commanding  moral  grandeur  as  a  champion  of  the  cross, 
he  is  greater  still  as  a  heroic  martyr  to  the  privations 
of  the  cause  he  espoused,  and  greatest  of  all  as  the  founder 
of  the  missionary  society  which  enables  him  to  speak 
long  after  his  tragic  death  on  the  icebound  shores  of 
Patagonia.  He  was  instrumental  in  establishing  the 
South  America  Missionary  Society  in  1844  and  decided 
to  test  the  power  of  his  IVIaster  over  the  Fuegian  Indians 
whom  the  naturalist  Darwin  had  declared  so  debased  as 

125 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOI\  LAIIX  AMERICA 

to  be  incapable  of  moral  discernment.  Gardiner  took 
up  the  gauntlet  thus  thrown  into  the  face  of  One  whom  he 
loved  with  all  the  ardor  of  his  noble  nature.  He  was 
permitted  to  labor  long  enough  to  convince  Darwin  of 
his  error.  His  tragic  death  from  starvation  in  1851,  at 
Spaniard  Harbor,  stirred  Great  Britain  and  gave  new 
impulse  to  the  work  among  the  Indians.  Gardiner  had 
traveled  among  the  tribes  of  the  Gran  Chaco  and  we  have 
already  mentioned  the  ultimate  planting  of  a  mission 
there. 

In  1894  Rev.  Charles  Sadlier,  of  the  Canadian 
Anglican  body,  began  a  mission  among  the  Araucanian 
Indians  of  the  south  of  Chile. 

The  staff  are  Canadians  who  represent  Gardiner's 
Society.  Their  work  is  well  organized  and  is  perhaps  the 
best-balanced  missionary  organization  in  Latin  America 
for  it  includes  an  industrial  department,  graded  schools, 
regular  preaching  services,  a  first-class  modern  hospital, 
and  a  printing  press  for  publications  in  Spanish  and  in 
the  Mapuche  dialect. 

To  illustrate  what  can  be  done  with  a  single  consecrated 
life  among  the  Indians  we  print  in  Appendix  C  the  story 
of  Miss  Annie  Coope. 

The  Quest  of  the  Early  Missionaries. — ^The  advance 
guard  of  Protestant  missions  came  in  a  loving,  fraternal 
spirit  desiring  to  share  with  the  Latin  American  brethren 
the  incomparable  blessings  of  the  gospel  of  grace. 

They  were  informed  before  they  arrived  and  convinced 
before  they  had  resided  long  that  the  people  in  these 
lands,  through  no  fault  of  their  own,  were  suffering  from 
spiritual  neglect,  destitution,  blindness,  uncertainty,  and 
unhappiness.  Fullness  of  life  as  an  experience  was  denied 
the  Latin  Americans  because  the  Bible  had  been  withheld 
and  the  Life-Giver  supplanted  by  a  thousand  cunning 
devices  of  priestcraft. 

The  missionaries  sought  their  conversion  to  the  truth 

126 


PROTESTANT  PATHFLMDERS 

and  their  entrance  upon  the  life  which  the  Holy 
Spirit  sustains  in  pardoned  sinners,  saved  and  sanc- 
tified. 

They  endeavored  to  lead  such  men  and  women  as  they 
could  find  into  the  deep  and  abiding  joys  of  the  Christian 
Ufe. 

They  were  intent  on  conveying  the  gospel  of  the  Bible 
to  a  people  without  the  knowledge  of  One  who  could  save 
and  keep  them  in  spite  of  daily  contact  with  a  wicked 
world. 

Their  program  at  first  did  not  contemplate  any  organ- 
ization for  the  converts.  In  fact,  many  of  the  early 
groups  of  believers  were  small  societies  in  which  the 
manner  of  life  was  modeled  after  the  apostolic  community 
in  Jerusalem.  The  pastors  and  teachers  gave  assiduous 
care  to  the  culture  of  these  first  tender  Christian  plants. 
From  these  they  expected  their  greater  harvest. 

Others  have  since  entered  into  their  husbandry  but 
there  is  not  a  pioneer  who  has  long  since  passed  to  his 
reward  who  would  not  now  rejoice  if  he  could  see  what 
mighty  increase  has  followed  modest  beginnings. 

The  common  hope  among  the  fostering  foreign  pastors 
was  to  raise  up  a  strong  band  of  Latin  Am.ericans  who 
might  carry  forward  the  evangelical  enterprise  until  the 
Latin  Americans  themselves  should  assume  the  duty  of 
evangelizing  their  compatriots.  In  every  field  God 
graciously  gave  increase  to  his  servants  and  thus  cor- 
roborated their  call  to  labor  in  Latin  America. 

These  early  leaders  believed  that  the  moral  regenera- 
tion of  Latin  America  must  be  begun  from  some  outside 
country  but  continued  and  consummated  by  regenerated 
men  and  women  who  had  found  Christ  in  their  own  land 
and  were  ready  to  make  sacrifices  to  bring  their  compa- 
triots to  him. 

Of  the  secondary  results  of  vital  Christianity  they 
thought  but  Httle. 

Their  successors  in  our  own  day  face  a  more  complex 

127 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

problem,  but  the  underlying  aim  of  the  Latin  American 
missionary  has  not  changed. 

Spirit  of  the  Workers. — Christianity  of  the  New 
Testament  type  carries  with  it  a  challenge  to  all  ungod- 
liness and  falsity.  Disciples  are  urged  to  be  "ready  al- 
ways to  give  an  answer  to  every  man  that  asketh  you  a 
reason  of  the  hope  that  is  in  you  with  meekness  and  fear." 

In  the  early  days  of  evangehcal  activity  there  were 
frequent  clashes  with  the  clergy  and  the  populace,  accom- 
panied by  arguments  both  hard  and  stale.  Controversy 
was  thrust  upon  the  alleged  intruders  and  in  the  fierce 
heat  of  polemics  many  hearts  were  stirred.  Mob  violence 
was  common. 

To  the  credit  of  the  missionaries  it  must  be  recorded 
that  all  of  them  have  been  "greater  than  he  that  taketh 
a  city."  They  have  been  great  in  learning  and  great  in 
daring.  The  Christ-spirit  of  patience,  forbearance, 
magnanimity,  and  forgiveness  of  enemies  has  won  over 
more  adversaries  than  the  unassailable  logic  of  evangelical 
doctrine,  and  the  missionaries  have  aimed  to  be  construct- 
ive rather  than  merely  hostile  to  pernicious  dogma. 

What  Did  They  Proclaim? — They  brought  back  to 
Latin  Americans  the  lost  Bible  that  ought  to  have  been 
theirs  centuries  before — a  message  for  the  soul,  a  love 
token  from  the  Father,  clear,  simple,  strong,  and  timely 
words  for  the  sin-stricken,  the  gracious  speech  that  fell 
from  the  lips  of  Jesus  and  the  searching  injunctions  of 
Peter,  Paul,  James,  and  John. 

What  glad  tidings  were  conveyed  in  the  gospel  of  grace! 
How  appealing  and  how  sensible  were  the  teachings  of 
Jesus  concerning  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  how  little 
did  he  say  of  the  very  things  that  had  bulked  so  large  in 
their  previous  transactions  with  God. 

Jesus  Christ  was  unveiled  as  the  divine  Redeemer  who 
made  full  and  sufficient  atonement  for  all  men  and  who 

128 


PROTESTANT  PATHFINDERS 

ever  liveth  to  guide  and  endue  the  lives  he  reclaims. 
Prayer  was  simpUfied,  made  personal  to  plain  men,  yet 
invested  with  new  power  and  majesty. 

Here,  then,  was  the  basis  of  appeal  for  the  gratitude 
that  displays  itself  in  holiness  and  service. 

The  Heart  of  the  Gospel  and  the  Latin  American 
Heart. — The  sublime  excellence  of  our  Lord's  evangel 
is  disclosed  in  its  power  to  penetrate  to  the  very  fountain 
of  being  and  transform  the  heart. 

A  large  representative  group  of  Latin  Americans  were 
asked:  "What  special  aspect  of  gospel  truth  appeals 
most  strongly  to  your  brethren?"  Nearly  all  answered: 
*'The  doctrine  of  the  grace  and  love  of  God  in  Christ 
Jesus." 

Latin  America  belongs  to  the  earth-wide  kindred  of 
souls  that  yearn  for  the  only  irresistible  force  in  the  uni- 
verse— abounding  love. 

The  Latin  American  heart  has  responded  to  love 
triumphant  and  the  number  of  answering  hearts  keeps 
increasing  year  by  year.  The  missionary  message  to 
Latin  America  is  "God  loves  you  all  and  longs  to  save 
and  to  bless  every  one  of  you!" 


129 


CHAPTER  VI 
A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

The  living  Word  of  the  living  God  has  germinated  in 
Latin  American  soil.  Our  missionary  enterprises  have 
taken  root  and  show  the  vigor  of  unfolding  growth. 
In  this  chapter  we  make  a  tour  of  our  Presbyterian  fields 
and  study  the  work  our  representatives  are  doing,  the 
problems  they  are  facing,  and  the  opportunities  that 
summon  to  larger  endeavor.* 

MEXICO 

The  development  of  Christian  work  in  Mexico  has 
been  fully  and  ably  described  by  Winton  in  his  text  on 
"Mexico  To-Day." 

Since  the  Conference  on  Cooperation  held  at  Cincin- 
nati in  July,  1914,  the  entire  territory  has  been  redis- 
tributed and  the  whole  project  reorganized  so  that  the 
Presbyterian  Church  expects  to  concentrate  on  Yucatan 
in  southern  Mexico,  Mexico  City,  and  Vera  Cruz. 

Fifteen  of  our  missionaries  have  already  returned  and 
report  hopefully.  The  Mexico  of  five  years  ago  is  dying 
hard  but  the  people  are  looking  to  God  in  the  day  of  their 
trouble.  Rev.  T.  J.  Molloy  writes:  "Mexico  is  ablaze 
with  line  opportunities  for  preaching  the  gospel.  I  only 
wish  we  had  fifty  more  missionaries  and  at  least  five 
hundred  more  Mexican  workers!" 

GUATEMALA 

The  population  of  Guatemala  is  sixty  per  cent  Indian, 
thirty  to  forty  per  cent  Ladina— a  mixture  of  Spanish 
and  Indian— and  ten  per  cent  pure  Spanish.     The  farm- 


*  For  complete  list  of  Presbyterian  missionaries  in  Latin  America  in  1916 
see  Appendix  D. 

130 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

ing  and  industrial  classes  are  very  poor.  Whole  families 
are  obliged  to  live  on  a  dollar  a  week. 

In  the  country  sections  there  are  few  good  roads  and 
transportation  of  goods  has  to  be  done  on  the  backs  of 
men  and  beasts  up  and  down  the  mountain  trails.  The 
boys  begin  carrying  loads  at  a  very  early  age  and  gradually 
increase  their  strength  until  they  can  trot  along  a  high- 
way or  up  a  hillside  path  with  a  box,  sack  or  pack  at  a 
pace  that  denotes  their  superb  endurance  as  well  as 
their  muscular  power. 

The  women  also  have  their  babies  to  balance  along 
with  miscellaneous  bundles.  Guatemala  has  been  called 
"The  Land  of  the  Burden-Bearers."  Their  physical 
burdens  are  only  dim  suggestions  of  the  crushing  weight 
of  spiritual  ills. 

Contact  With  the  Outside  World.— The  United  Fruit 
Company  has  enormous  tracts  along  the  coast  where 
they  raise  bananas  and  pineapples  and  there  are  large 
coffee  and  sugar  plantations  in  the  interior. 

American  goods  are  reaching  all  the  towns.  One 
correspondent  states:  "Guatemala  has  ten  paid  boomers 
of  special  brands  of  whisky  to  every  preacher  of  right- 
eousness." 

Religious  Observances. — So  far  as  the  mass  of  the 
people  are  concerned  religion  is  a  mere  matter  of  form  and 
feasting.  The  old  churches  are  deserted  save  for  a  few 
old  women  who  relieve  the  tedium  of  existence  by  hearing 
an  occasional  mass. 

The  procession  of  Corpus  Christi  attracts  multitudes 
from  the  entire  countryside,  but  the  authorities  of  late 
have  interfered  with  this  celebration. 

Anticlericalism. — It  is  estimated  that  in  all  Guatemala 
there  are  not  more  than  one  hundred  priests,  many  of 
them  \vithout  parishes.    The  day  of  their  political  power 

131 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

has  passed.  No  Latin  American  republic  has  equaled 
Guatemala  in  restrictive  legislation  aimed  against  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church. 

General  Barrios  adopted  severe  measures  to  establish 
rehgious  liberty  because  he  believed  it  was  essential  to 
all  human  progress.  He  banished  the  Jesuits  from  Gua- 
temala so  that  even  a  minister  of  the  gospel  must  swear 
that  he  is  not  a  Jesuit  before  he  is  permitted  to  enter. 
President  Barrios  also  confiscated  church  property, 
monasteries  and  convents,  outlawed  the  friars  and  nuns, 
and  left  the  churches  under  rental  privileges  to  the  secular 
clergy,  whom  he  obliged  to  discard  their  clerical  habit  as 
a  street  costume. 

While  the  energetic  treatment  adopted  by  President 
Barrios  may  have  been  dictated  by  poHtical  motives, 
nevertheless  it  was  a  distinct  advantage  to  our  Presby- 
terian missionaries  who  were  welcomed  to  that  land 
by  the  president  himself  and  favored  in  many  ways  by 
government  officials. 

Guatemala  City. — Since  the  field  was  opened  to  Pres- 
byterian missionaries  by  President  Barrios  in  1882,  our 
work  there  has  received  the  favor  and  protection  of  gov- 
ernment ofiicials  from  the  president  down,  and,  in  this 
respect,  has  been  more  favored  than  any  undertaking 
in  Latin  America.  A  house  in  a  central  location  was 
rented  from  the  president  at  a  nominal  sum,  and  Hberal 
contributions  were  made  toward  furnishing  it.  Thus 
the  Enghsh  and  Spanish  congregations  in  Guatemala 
City  were  sheltered  from  the  persecutions  that  usually 
accompany  pioneer  work.  When  their  own  chapel  was 
dedicated  in  1891  the  rejoicing  was  general.  In  outlying 
districts  the  undertaking  has  been  more  difficult. 

A  girls'  school  was  begun  in  1884  but  discontinued  in 
1891  for  lack  of  a  suitable  property.  A  commodious 
modern  building  of  solid  brick  with  cement  trimmings 
covering  half  a  block  was  occupied  in  1913.    This  build- 

132 


A  Guatemala  Indian 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

ing  has  more  than  thirty  spacious  rooms,is  decorated  with 
mahogany  and  equipped  with  modern  furniture  and 
appliances. 

Through  the  hospital  and  the  Bethany  School  for 
Graduate  Nurses  in  Guatemala  City  two  of  our  mission- 
aries are  ministering  to  the  people  and  training  those  who 
will  continue  the  work.  They  are  aided  by  Dona  Merce- 
des, a  Bible  woman,  who  preaches  the  gospel  in  the  wait- 
ing room. 

In  1915  they  treated  one  hundred  and  forty-two 
patients,  conducted  thirty-three  operations,  and  had 
only  two  deaths.  Seventy-three  of  these  patients  were 
Protestants,  fiity-three  Roman  CathoHcs  and  sixteen 
who  made  no  profession  of  faith.  Of  their  charge  patients, 
tliirty-six  paid  one  dollar  per  day  or  more,  thirty-one 
paid  less  than  one  dollar  per  day,  and  some  as  little  as 
fifteen  cents  a  day.  Two  hundred  and  eighty-live  visits 
were  made  to  the  homes  of  the  sick  and  nineteen  hundred 
and  sixteen  prescriptions  were  filled  for  office  patients. 
An  institution  twice  the  size  of  this  hospital  would  be 
overcrowded  in  this  city  of  one  hundred  thousand 
inhabitants. 

A  report  received  in  January,  1916,  states  that  the 
average  attendance  at  the  services  of  the  Guatemala 
City  Church  had  been  the  best  in  twelve  years  that  had 
registered  steady  improvement.  Their  church  is  located 
just  one  block  north  of  the  central  plaza.  It  is  a  beauti- 
ful and  substantial  building  with  seating  capacity  for 
five  hundred.  Thirty-three  members  were  received 
during  the  year  after  their  lives  had  been  thoroughly 
tested.  Contributions  from  the  membership  keep  increas- 
ing by  a  large  percentage  every  year. 

The  Mission  Press. — The  new  cyHnder  press  was 
installed  in  1915  and  in  one  year  printed  over  two  million 
pages  of  Christian  literature  for  circulation  all  over 
Guatemala  and  Central  America.    What  this  means  for 

133 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

all  Central  American  readers  is  best  illustrated  by  this 
graphic  touch  from  a  letter:  "Just  as  I  write  these  Hnes, 
a  Christian  Indian  boy,  who  lives  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  over  the  mountains,  has  come  in  for  consultation 
and  for  a  supply  of  tracts  for  distribution  on  his  way 
back  home." 

Work  Among  Women. — Think  of   a  women's   Bible 

class  with  an  enrollment  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  and 

.  an  average  attendance  of  ninety!    It  has  broken  down  the 

/  barriers  between  the  rich  and  the  poor  and  has  offered  a 

'  successful  solution  of  the  servant  question  which  would 

interest  all  housewives  in  America. 

Public  Schools. — Guatemala,  hke  all  Latin  American 
jfepublics,  has  an  ambitious  educational  program — on 
paper.  A  race  of  idealists  spends  a  good  deal  of  time 
thinking  out  "projects"  which  cannot  be  realized  owing 
to  the  lack  of  teachers,  properties  and  revenue.  Presi- 
dent Cabrera  is  making  every  effort  to  reduce  the  seventy- 
five  per  cent  illiteracy  of  Guatemala.  The  last  Sunday 
in  October  of  each  year  has  been  set  apart  by  the  presi- 
dential decree  of  October  28,  1899,  as  a  national  holi- 
day   to   celebrate   the   benefits   of   public    instruction. 

Two  married  missionaries  and  their  wives  are  devoting 
their  Hves  to  the  education  of  girls  in  the  metropolis. 
Of  the  forty-eight  girls  enrolled  in  1915,  twenty-one 
came  from  Roman  Catholic  homes. 

The  mission  hopes  to  have  a  boys'  school  in  Guatemala 
City  very  soon  and  is  searching  for  a  suitable  site. 
In  the  outlying  districts  the  rural  schools  maintained  by 
the  government  seldom  carry  their  pupils  past  the  second 
elementary  grade. 

What  a  magnificent  opportunity  for  some  Christian 
philanthropist  who  believes  in  educators  as  missionaries! 
The  Boys'  School  at  Chiquimula  is  a  fine  sample  of  what 
could  be  done  in  a  score  of  places. 

134 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

Quezaltenango. — This  city  of  twenty-one  thousand 
inhabitants  (the  town  of  the  sacred  green  feather)  is  an 
important  center,  for  it  lies  within  easy  reach  of  about 
twenty  smaller  towns  and  villages.  It  was  occupied  in 
1898.  The  Indians  who  work  on  the  coffee  estates 
number  at  least  twenty  thousand  in  this  region. 

The  superintendent  says,  "During  the  year  (1915)  I 
have  preached  twice  in  English,  five  times  in  German, 
fourteen  times  in  Quiche  (by  means  of  an  interpreter) 
and  one  hundred  and  seventy  times  in  Spanish."  The 
resemblance  between  the  manner  of  life  in  the  interior 
and  that  of  the  Jews  in  Old  Testament  times  makes 
vivid  Bible  exposition  a  possibility. 

Retrospect  and  Outlook. — A  competent  Judge  of  the 
religious  situation  in  Guatemala  whose  connection  with 
the  work  dates  from  1897  offers  the  following  opinion : 

"Twenty-live  years  ago  there  was  but  one  center,  and 
in  it  but  three  native  preachers.  Now  there  are  nineteen 
congregations,  varjdng  in  attendance  from  twelve  to 
two  hundred  and  fifty,  besides  preachers  in  seven  other 
preaching  points.  Besides  this  there  are  eight  congrega- 
tions somewhat  isolated.  This  means  a  total  at  present 
of  thirty-three  congregations  and  fourteen  hundred  actual 
attendants. 

"It  is  now  possible  to  travel  on  mule  back  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific,  or  from  Honduras  to  Mexico,  and  stop 
every  night  at  an  evangelical  preaching  point.  All  this 
in  twenty-live  3'^ears! 

"Formerly  it  was  not  possible  to  print  a  syllable.  One 
could  travel  all  over  the  country  and  not  find  a  Bible. 
Now  one  can  find  a  Bible  in  every  town  and  village,  and 
in  some  places  there  are  almost  as  many  Bibles  as  families. 

"There  has  been  a  very  marked  increase  in  religious 
liberty  during  the  last  twenty-five  years.  At  the  begin- 
ning it  was  a  very  delicate  matter  to  open  work  at  any 
new  point.    Now  that  the  Protestant  faith  has  become 

135 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

SO  common  anyone  can  proclaim  himself  an  evangelical 
who  wishes  to,  and  there  are  few  places  where  it  would 
be  dangerous  to  begin  work. 

"Another  quite  noticeable  change  is  that  the  gospel  is 
permeating  upwards  into  the  higher  classes  of  society. 
Formerly  our  congregation  in  the  capital  was  clothed 
in  blue  shawls  and  white  cotton;  now  black  prevails,  not 
only  because  the  gospel  improved  the  social,  hygienic  and 
economic  conditions  of  its  hearers,  but  because  like  all 
other  revolutions,  it  penetrates  society  from  below  up- 
wards. 

"After  traveling  all  over  the  country  a  recent  visitor 
said:  'I  found  but  two  churches  where  there  were  no 
attempts  atimprovement  in  church  construction,  and  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  this  is  an  invaluable  sign. 
Wherever  she  is  alive  she  is  building.  Churches  that 
twenty-five  years  ago  were  well-attended  and  well-stocked 
with  nicely  clothed  wooden  saints  are  now  almost  aban- 
doned, and  we  saw  one  with  nearly  all  the  saints  stripped 
and  hidden  in  a  corner  and  covered  with  dust,  where 
a  family  of  screecliing  owls  had  appropriated  the  niche 
back  of  the  main  altar.' 

"While  the  people  are  nominally  Roman  Catholic, 
they  are  far  from  being  as  Roman  Catholic  as  they 
were  twenty  years  ago,  or  even  ten.  The  duty  of  Protes- 
tant Christendom  in  this  connection  is  obvious. 

"This  duty  is  increased  by  the  further  fact  that  the 
furor  among  the  Liberals  in  favor  of  French  positivism 
(Compte's)  has  waned  and  bids  fair  to  disappear.  It  was 
adopted  in  the  first  place,  not  for  its  philosophy,  but  for 
its  license,  and  very  naturally  soon  gave  the  worst  moral 
results.  There  has  been  a  growing  feeling  among  the 
Liberals  that  positivism  has  not  made  good,  and  the 
Liberals  are  now  in  a  much  more  receptive  condition  of 
mind  than  ever  they  have  been  since  the  Liberal  revolu- 
tion. The  duty  of  Presbyterianism  is  clear."  Pres- 
byterians have  an  open  and  undisputed  field.     They 

136 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

accepted  the  invitation.    No  mission  ever  had  a  greater  / 
opportunity  or  a  more  solemn  obligation.  [ 

VENEZUELA 

When  Columbus  first  sighted  the  Venezuelan  coast 
in  1498  it  was  occupied  by  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tribes  of  Indians.  It  became  one  of  the  Spanish 
captaincies  general.  Simon  Bolivar  defeated  the  Royal- 
ists at  Boyoca  and  Carabobo  so  that  Venezuela  was 
freed  in  1821,  becoming  part  of  Bolivar's  Greater  Colom- 
bia. Venezuela  seceded  and  declared  its  absolute 
independence  on  September  twenty-second,  1830. 

Moral  recklessness  is  characteristic  of  the  masses. 
The  press  gang  is  an  established  institution  and  no  young 
man  is  quite  certain  whether  he  will  return  to  his  home 
after  taking  an  evening  stroll,  for  he  may  be  seized  and 
hurried  off  to  the  nearest  barracks. 

In  the  rural  districts  the  laborers  are  demanding  more 
pay  and  have  been  able  to  command  fifty  cents  a  day 
but  they  have  great  difficulty  in  collecting  it.  Intemper- 
ance is  almost  a  universal  vice,  A  vitriolic  whisky  is 
distilled  from  the  sugar  cane  and  sells  for  eight  cents  a 
liter.  "In  Venezuela,"  remarks  Doctor  Pond,  "a  man  can 
get  drunk  on  four  cents."  The  women  of  the  land  do 
not  seem  to  act  as  moral  ballast  or  to  counteract  prevail- 
ing evils.  Venezuela  heads  the  list  of  Latin  American  ' 
republics  for  illegitimacy  and  the  proportion  of  im- 
becility. 

Only  twenty  per  cent  of  the  population  are  able  to 
read  and  write.  The  government  is  attempting  to 
remedy  this  defect,  but  does  not  seem  willing  to  spend 
money  for  the  proper  training  of  teachers. 

Until  President  Castro  erected  the  Military  Academy 
in  1908  there  had  never  been  a  single  building  constructed 
expressly  for  a  school. 

Teaching  is  a  despised  profession,  regarded  as  that  of 
an  upper  domestic  servant,  and  salaries  are  low.     Our 

137 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

entire  staff  there  consists  of  two  ordained  men  witli 
their  wives. 

The  evangelical  church  and  community  numbers  about 
a  hundred  souls.  Among  them  a  good  educational  work 
is  conducted  in  the  Colegio  Americano  or  high  school 
for  older  girls  with  a  preparatory  department  for  younger 
pupils  of  both  sexes.  A  native  evangelist  was  licensed 
in  1915,  a  very  inspiring  sign. 

A  very  successful  industrial  work  is  conducted  among 
the  women.  An  exhibit  of  Venezuelan  laces,  embroidery 
and  fine  needlework  attracted  a  great  deal  of  attention 
at  the  Panama  Congress  on  Christian  Work. 

"The  distress  of  the  nonemployed  is  most  pathetic. 
Poverty  is  the  most  prominent  issue  in  our  social  prob- 
lems," declares  the  senior  missionary. 

Let  us  try  to  imagine,  as  best  we  can,  the  situation  of 
the  poor  Venezuelans  that  are  our  fellow  Presbyterians. 
They  belong  to  a  despised  heretical  sect.  Their  public 
confession  of  Christ  renders  them  liable  to  dismissal 
from  employment,  to  eviction  from  the  rude  shelters 
that  serve  as  homes,  to  trade  prejudice,  to  browbeating 
by  every  public  official  whose  sympathies  are  with  the 
state  religion.  Many  of  them  never  advance  far  beyond 
the  margin  of  starvation.  The  German  resident  traders 
may  be  Protestant — everyone  expects  them  to  be — but  a 
true  Venezuelan  patriot  ought  not  to  forsake  the  faith 
of  his  fathers. 

Until  they  can  establish  themselves  in  safety  and 
accredit  their  class,  the  Venezuelans  have  every  right  to 
expect  that  their  more  favored  brethren  share  with  them 
the  reproach  of  Christ.  Out  of  their  poverty  they  have 
made  self-sacrifice  that  has  meant  real  suffering.  North 
America  expects  Venezuela  to  pave  her  way  to  comfort; 
Venezuela,  in  return,  has  every  right  to  ask  us  to  help 
her  pave  her  way  to  happiness. 

The  only  other  evangelical  agency  in  Venezuela  is  a 
society  represented  by  its  president,  Rev.  Gerard  Bailly, 

138 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

who  has  founded  the  Hebron  Home  Bible  Training 
Institute.  The  home  is  situated  among  the  mountains 
about  twenty  miles  from  Caracas  in  the  midst  of  a  tract  of 
five  hundred  acres  of  productive  soil  where  young  men  in 
preparation  for  Christian  work  may  earn  their  education 
by  agricultural  labor.  The  success  of  this  well-managed 
institution  which  has  already  provided  several  workers 
for  rural  pastorate,  itineration,  colportage,  et  cetera, 
inspires  the  hope  that  our  own  Board  may  be  commanded 
by  the  Church  to  go  forward  on  a  scale  commensurate 
with  the  task  that  confronts  the  Evangelical  Church  among 
nearly  three  million  Venezuelans. 

COLOMBIA 

The  Colombians  have  been  described  as  the  most 
amiable  and  lovable  of  all  Latin  Americans.  The 
descendants  of  the  Spaniards  are  to  be  found  in  the 
interior  near  the  capital  city  of  Bogota.  There  are  a 
great  many  negroes  along  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts. 
They  total  ten  per  cent  of  the  entire  population.  The 
Indian  peoples,  however,  make  up  the  bulk  of  Colombia's 
population  and  have  intermarried  with  both  the  Spanish 
and  the  negro.  A  foreigner  of  Bogota  writes:  "Watch 
Maria,  our  Spanish-Indian-negro  maid.  One  can  observe 
in  her  character  the  overlapping  strains  of  the  different 
races.  For  weeks  she  would  appear  a  true  Spaniard, 
haughty,  willful  and  pohshed.  Suddenly,  through  some 
circumstance,  the  stubborn  Indian  nature  would  assert 
itself  and  taciturnity  would  overcome  poHteness.  Again, 
one  could  fancy  he  detected  in  the  dark  eyes  and  the 
happy,  singing  voice  the  spirit  of  old  Tennessee.  The 
strains  have  not  amalgamated  but  remain  as  rival 
influences  in  a  complex,  unstable,  unreHable  character, 
capable  of  realizing  or  of  disappointing  any  hopes  set 
upon  her." 

The  inner  range  of  the  Andes  cuts  Colombia  in  two. 
To  the  east  lies  the  watershed  of  the  Amazon  and  the 

139 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Orinoco.  There  are  many  uncivilized  tribes  in  this 
section  and  the  traveler  has  to  be  wary  where  he  beaches 
his  canoe.  Indeed  he  has  to  keep  both  eyes  open,  one 
on  the  aborigines  and  the  other  on  the  alligators. 

The  sturdy  Antioquians  who  people  the  secluded  valley 
near  the  Gulf  of  Panama  represent  a  large  hope  for  the 
future. 

Colombia  has  always  maintained  a  select  circle  of 
intellectuals  in  the  capital.  She  has  reasons  to  be  proud 
of  two  facts;  viz.,  that  the  best  Spanish  in  South  America 
is  spoken  in  Bogota,  the  dty  of  the  grammarian,  Cuervo, 
and  that  the  great  and  only  Simon  Bolivar  was  a  Colom- 
bian. 

But  there  are  other  facts  about  Colombia  that  afiford 
less  cause  for  congratulation. 

She  shares  with  Ecuador  the  unenviable  reputation  of 
being  the  most  priest-ridden  South  American  republic. 
Bogota,  Medellin,  Bucaramanga  and  other  towns  are 
isolated  away  up  on  tablelands  in  the  interior.  Of 
Cartajena,  her  Caribbean  port,  a  recent  visitor  wrote: 
"Others  have  described  before  me  this  historic  city, 
ancient  seat  of  the  Inquisition,  with  its  massive  sea  wall, 
ramparts,  bastions,  clock  tower,  its  narrow  balconied 
streets,  winding  in  disappearing  vistas,  its  magnificent 
archbishop's  palace,  its  many  quaint  legends  of  a  clois- 
tered intolerant  life  reminding  one  more  than  any  other 
city  in  Colombia,  or  even  in  Latin  America,  of  the  atmos- 
phere breathed  by  its  inhabitants  three  centuries  ago." 

Clerical  influence  is  strong  and  consequently  fanaticism 
is  rampant  among  the  women.  Political  complications 
between  the  United  States  and  Colombian  governments 
over  the  independence  of  Panama  have  stirred  the 
Colombian  ire  so  that  an  American  missionary  has  need  of 
the  daily  grace  of  forbearance.  Among  the  ruling  classes 
in  the  interior  feeling  runs  high  and  bitter  hatred  of  the 
American  is  fomented  by  the  officials  of  the  State  Church. 

The  Conservative  party  is  in  power  at  present  and  is 

140 


Student  Helpers  with  the  Pioneer  of  the  Venezuela  Mission 


The  Chapel  of  the  Presbyterian  Mission,  Caracas 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

making  every  effort  to  retain  its  primacy.  It  is  almost 
half  a  century  since  a  Liberal  administration  banished 
monks   and   nuns   after   confiscating  Church   property. 

A  Concordato  exists  between  Colombia  and  the 
Vatican  whereby  Colombia  pays  eighty-three  thousand 
dollars  gold  annually  to  Rome  as  interest  on  confiscated 
property,  pledges  herself  to  support  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion  as  a  State  Church — "a  necessary  part  of  educa- 
tion and  morals" — yet  gives  the  Church  absolute  freedom 
of  action.  To  prevent  the  return  of  the  Liberals  to  power 
the  priests  boost  Conservative  policies  and  the  politicians 
help  the  Church.  In  Colombia  there  is  a  growing  liberal- 
ism and,  though  many  men  are  silent  on  religious  ques- 
tions for  fear  of  social  pressure,  an  ever-increasing  number 
are  indifferent  on  such  matters  or  have  joined  the  ranks 
of  atheistic  freethinkers. 

In  the  face  of  such  conditions  what  has  the  Presbyterian 
Church  done  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  these  five  million 
people? 

Bogota. — We  made  the  earliest  start  in  South  America 
at  Bogota  in  1856.  Until  1888  this  was  our  only  station. 
A  girls'  school  had  been  organized  in  1869  and  one  for 
boys  in  1890.  They  have  had  an  attendance  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  each  in  1915.  The  mother  church  has  been 
endeavoring  to  extend  its  evangeHstic  activities  in  the 
districts  round  about.  Public  meetings  are  absolutely 
forbidden  by  the  authorities  so  that  the  gospel  must  be 
proclaimed  in  some  other  way.  In  1888  BarranquiUa 
was  entered  and  has  all  the  harvest  of  years  concentrated 
in  the  church,  a  boarding  school  for  boys  and  another 
for  girls. 

BarranquiUa. — The  cHmate,  especially  at  BarranquiUa, 
is  not  conducive  fto  strenuous  effort;  our  representatives 
are  working  to  the  Umit  of  their  strength,  yet  progress 
is  admittedly  slow.    Young  Colombians  have  not  offered 

141 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

themselves  for  the  gospel  ministry  and  Colombia  must 
be  evangelized  by  the  Colombian.  When  a  young  man 
gets  a  fair  education  and  contemplates  a  better  future, 
his  natural  impulse  is  to  find  some  way  to  bid  adieu  to 
his  native  land. 

The  shadow  of  pessimism  seems  to  hover  over  all  the 
land,  but,  on  analysis,  we  find  it  is  the  shade  of  clericalism. 

Medellin. — In  1889  Medelh'n  was  occupied  but  had 
to  be  abandoned  in  1907.  It  was  reopened  in  19n. 
This  is  the  center  of  a  region  where  there  is  a  less  friendly 
atmosphere. 

Bucaramanga.  —  Bucaramanga  (twenty  thousand) 
about  two  hundred  miles  north  of  Bogota  was  opened 
in  1912  and  Cartajena  became  a  station  in  1914. 

On  his  itinerating  trips  the  missionary  travels  by  canoe, 
on  foot  and  on  horseback.  The  difficulties  of  maintaining  a 
home  or  of  moving  from  place  to  place  are  as  great  as 
they  are  in  the  interior  of  China.  Mr.  Williams  relates 
how  he  *'had  to  lash  his  httle  son  to  the  crossbar  of  the 
canoe  to  keep  him  from  the  cannibal  fishes"  or  "strap 
him  to  the  pommel  of  the  saddle  as  they  threaded  the 
mountain  trails." 

Cerete. — Cerete  is  a  town  of  six  thousand  on  the 
Sinu  River  where  the  climate  is  moist  and  tropical. 
Work  began  here  in  1912.  Our  missionary,  who 
has  to  do  his  best  without  so  much  as  a  church  build- 
ing, reports:  "All  our  work  means  much  travel  on 
horseback,  and  in  canoe,  through  forest,  swamp  and 
mud,  under  a  fierce  tropical  sun.  Hot,  tiring  days  are 
followed  by  exhausting  nights,  but  as  we  think  of  it  we 
thank  God  for  health  granted  to  carry  it  on  and  pray 
for  more  health  and  more  help  to  continue  and  extend  it. 
We  have  no  priestly  opposition  and  this  is  a  very 
cogent  reason  why  we  should  put  much  more  effort  into 
this  region." 

142 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

Help  Wanted.— Li  all  Colombia  at  present  there  is 
an  evangelical  community  of  four  hundred  with  twice 
that  number  in  mission  schools.  In  the  phrase  "more 
help"  the  appeal  of  Colombia  becomes  concrete.  The 
field  is  so  extensive  and  conditions  are  so  taxing  to  a 
white  man  without  national  workers  to  relieve  him  of  the 
heaviest  strain,  that  the  whole  weight  of  moral  respon- 
sibiHty  is  oppressing. 

The  vast  region  beyond  the  Andes — more  than  half 
the  area  of  the  entire  republic — is  untouched.  The 
faithful  few,  all  of  whose  names  we  have  been  unable  to 
include,  are  doing  yeoman  service  in  yearly  expectation 
of  reenforcements.  The  missionaries  have  presented  a 
series  of  alternatives  to  our  Board.  Shall  we  concentrate 
in  one  or  two  centers  or  attempt  the  hopeless  task  of 
distributing  our  forces  over  a  wide  territory?  Shall  we 
permit  our  members  to  be  so  separated  that  they  cannot 
meet  for  counsel  and  fellowship?  Shall  we  divide  mission- 
ary responsibility  with  some  other  missionary  agencies  or 
shall  we  ask  the  Church  for  substantial  reenforcements? 
The  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  can  only  answer  what 
our  Church  bids  and  our  Church  cannot  advance  faster 
than  its  members. 

CHILE 
Diego  de  Almagro,  one  of  Pizarro's  lieutenants,  was 
the  first  white  man  to  visit  Chile  and  take  formal 
possession  of  it  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  Spain.  Pedro 
de  Valdivia  headed  the  second  expedition  from  Lima  and 
founded  Santiago  in  1541.  Ercilla,  one  of  his  captains, 
author  of  the  epic  poem  "Araucana,"  thus  describes  the 
land  and  its  people  as  he  found  them^in  the  sixteenth 
century : 

Chile  is  a  fertile  and  wonderful  province 

In  the  famous  antarctical  regions, 

Greatly  respected  of  old  by  the  nations 

As  being  \drile,  mighty  and  strong. 

The  people  it  engenders  are  so  elect, 
143 


'IHE  L1MN(;  CHRIST  FOR  LAI  L\  AMERICA 

So  warlike,  gallant  and  splendid, 
That  never  existed  a  king  who  could  rule  it, 
Nor  did  foreigner  ever  compel  its  submission. 
The  Chilian  is  as  pure  and  homogeneous  a  people  as 
exists  on  the  face  of  the  earth.    There  is  no  negro  element 
in  the  country.    From  his  Spanish-Indian  ancestry  the 
modern    Chilian    derives    marked    quaUties — the    high 
mettle  of  his  Spanish  forbears  and  the  stalwart  physical 
prowess  of  his  unconquered  sires.  Ex-President  Roosevelt 
says,  ''The  ChiHans  have  the  fighting  edge;"  and  their 
most  eminent  modern  historian  has  stated,    "Chile  loves 
peace  and  is  not  afraid  of  war." 

Government. — Stable  republican  rule  has  fostered 
steady  progress  since  emancipation  from  Spain  in  1818. 

Government  railways  run  from  north  to  south  with 
branch  lines  into  the  productive  valleys.  The  telegraph 
and  postal  systems  controlled  by  the  republic  are 
excellent. 

Although  Chile  is  still  an  oligarchy,  democratic  ideals 
are  kept  to  the  fore,  but  the  representation  in  congress 
has  been  largely  in  the  hands  of  a  clique  of  wealthy 
families.  The  Civil  War  of  1891  was  a  conflict  over  the 
principles  of  government  and  led  to  a  marked  restriction 
of  executive  power. 

In  1879  Chile  waged  what  is  known  as  the  "Nitrate 
War"  against  Peru  and  Bolivia.  She  bottled  up  Bolivia, 
overcame  the  Peruvian  armies  and  won  as  her  spoils 
the  bountiful  nitrate  region  that  provides  such  a  rich 
revenue  in  ex-port  duties.  The  war  reduced  her  popula- 
tion, however,  so  that  the  women  still  are  much  more 
numerous  than  the  men. 

The  Church. — The  clergy  of  Chile  have  usually  been 
recruited  from  the  best  families  and,  as  a  class,  are  men 
of  character  and  ability.  Congress  grants  an  annual 
subsidy  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  about  eight 

144 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

hundred  thousand  dollars  and  the  following  table  for  1911 
indicates  better  than  words  what  a  complete  organiza- 
tion the  Church  controls  in  Chile. 

Secular  Clergy 701 

Monks 1445 

Nuns 3706 

Theology  Students 149 

Cloisters  for  Men 152 

Cloisters  for  Women 177 

Churches 500 

Chapels 619 

Education. — The  state  has  a  good  university  in  San- 
tiago with  nineteen  hundred  students  besides  normal 
and  professional  schools.  Every  facility  and  stimulus  is 
offered  to  young  men  and  women  who  aspire  after 
thorough  professional  training. 

The  standards  in  the  Medical  School  are  as  high  as 
those  of  our  own  land. 

The  Roman  Catholic  University  of  Santiago  has  been 
built  and  endowed  by  individuals  and  is  a  formidable 
rival  of  the  state  institution  in  its  parallel  faculties. 
The  Church  provides  technical  training  in  a  number  of 
centers,  and  boarding  schools  for  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  wealthy  families. 

The  instruction  of  the  masses,  however,  is  sadly  neg- 
lected. Illiteracy  is  still  sixty  per  cent  in  Chile  and 
legislators  are  endeavoring  as  fast  as  possible  to  reduce 
this  percentage. 

In  the  country  districts  scant  provision  is  made  for 
even  elementary  teaching.  The  graduate  normal  teacher 
lacks  the  missionary  zeal  that  scattered  the  Dominican 
friars  over  all  the  land. 

Civilization. — Chile,  like  Peru  and  Colombia,  is  a  land 
of  vivid  contrasts.  In  spots  one  may  find  all  the  evidences 
of  modern  advancement  yet  the  palace  of  the  aristocrat 

145 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST   FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

is  often  in  the  same  block  with  the  wretched  hovel  of  the 
poor.  The  limousine  flashes  by  the  lumbering  oxcarts 
on  the  city  streets  and  Parisian  costumes  brush  the  faded 
garments  of  the  poor. 

The  Curse  of  Alcoholism. — Chile  consumes  an  enormous 
quantity  of  wines.  Her  w^atered  slopes  are  ideal  for 
vineyards,  and  drinking  is  a  universal  habit,  where 
liquor  is  cheaper  than  milk. 

Public  sentiment  is  not  yet  aroused  on  this  question 
and  the  land-owning  legislators  are  ruining  a  strong 
people  by  permitting  the  liquor  traffic  to  decimate  the 
nation. 

A  Mission  Field. — Chilians  themselves  sadly  admit 
that  grave  evils  still  remain  uncorrected.  The  Chilian 
workman,  so  robust  and  good-humored,  is  a  prey  to  his 
own  weaknesses.  The  educated  classes  have  forsaken 
the  Church  for  the  arid  philosophies  that  offer  such 
tempting  mirages  to  South  American  youth.  Thought- 
ful men  are  growing  alarmed  over  the  moral  slump  that 
seems  lower  with  each  generation.  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  holds  a  post  of  honor  but  not  a  position  of  spir- 
itual power. 

The  task  of  popular  education  is  too  great  for  the  state 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  specializing  on  higher 
education  instead  of  instructing  large  numbers  in  the 
rudiments. 

The  North  Field. — The  evangelical  movement  begun 
by  Doctor  David  Trumbull  has  gradually  extended  until 
it  embraces  the  entire  repubhc. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  has  divided  responsibility 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (North)  in  the 
nitrate  pampas  of  Tarapaca.  Our  Northern  Station  with 
the  missionary  residence  at  Taltal  includes  three  valleys 
that  run  from  Tocopilla,  Taltal  and  Caldera  into  the 

146 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

interior.  There  is  a  church  in  each  port  and  a  number 
of  beUeving  groups  along  the  routes  to  the  mines  and 
nitrate  fields.  The  miners  are  hberal  in  sentiment  and 
welcome  the  preacher  and  the  colporteur.  They  move 
from  place  to  place  frequently  and  this  fact,  combined 
with  the  matter  of  time  required  to  reach  them  in  regular 
rotation,  renders  such  work  precarious.  It  is  like  casting 
bread  upon  the  waters.  In  spite  of  all  the  unfavorable 
conditions  there  are  three  main  congregations  and  scat- 
tered bodies  of  Christians  whose  confession  and  example 
are  Hke  the  shadow  of  a  great  rock  in  a  desert  land.  Five 
times  the  present  force  would  be  required  to  minister 
fairly  to  these  pilgrims  of  the  pampas. 

The  Seaport  Circuit. — The  first  Spanish  preaching  in 
Chile  by  the  evangelical  forces  was  done  in  Valparaiso 
although  the  first  Presbyterian  church  was  organized 
in  Santiago.  Valparaiso  is  a  city  of  two  hundred  and 
seventy  thousand  on  a  crescent-shaped  bay  with  a  suc- 
cession of  steep  hills  rising  abruptly  from  the  narrow 
strip  of  beach  and  divided  from  one  another  by  deep 
ravines  so  that  communications  are  maintained  by  means 
of  the  lower  level.  Vina  del  Mar,  a  fashionable  suburb, 
lies  at  the  upper  end  of  the  curved  shore  line.  Valparaiso 
has  a  large  and  commodious  central  church,  built  in  1906, 
partially  destroyed  by  the  earthquake  while  in  process 
of  construction  but  immediately  repaired  and  pressed  to 
conclusion.  This  parent  congregation  maintains  from  five 
to  eight  chapels  on  the  various  hills,  each  chapel  with  its 
Sunday  school.  Vina  del  IVIar  is  an  outstation  with 
two  chapels.  The  mother  church  has  a  membership  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty-five  and  the  aggregate  Sunday- 
school  attendance  each  Sunday  in  all  the  branches 
varies  from  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred. 

Parish  Schools. — Mrs.  Trumbull,  in  the  early  days, 
thoroughly  alive  to  the  need  ©f  primary  education,  had 

147 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

founded  a  parish  school,  known  as  the  Esctcela  Popular, 
which  has  since  grown  to  large  proportions  and  is  housed 
in  a  substantial  modern  building.  From  two  hundred 
to  two  hundred  and  fifty  children  of  both  sexes  attend. 
In  1915  the  government  had  to  suppress  four  hundred 
primary  schools,  so  that  this  work  is  all  the  more  im- 
portant. 

This  central  plant  trains  teachers  for  six  branch  schools 
that  are  conducted  in  the  various  departments  that 
form  a  cordon  of  agencies  around  the  city.  In  this  way 
popular  instruction  accompanied  by  Biblical  teaching 
is  given  to  from  seven  hundred  to  one  thousand  pupils, 
and  these  day  schools,  in  the  main,  are  self-supporting. 
Rev.  J.  M.  Taylor,  EvangeUst  of  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Board,  who  visited  Chile  in  May,  1914,  said,  "I 
have  seen  no  work  in  all  South  America  that  interested 
me  more,  or  that  seemed  to  offer  such  splendid  oppor- 
tunities." In  1914  work  was  began  in  La  Ligua  and  Valle 
Hermoso  and,  in  spite  of  determined  persecution,  the 
workers  have  secured  a  foothold. 

The  Capital. — Santiago,  (five  hundred  thousand)  is 
the  metropolis  of  the  west  coast;  the  political,  reUgious, 
educational  and  social  center.  It  was  founded  in  1541  and 
is  much  older  than  any  North  American  city.  It  nestles 
among  the  foothills  of  the  Andes  that  almost  encircle 
it  with  gray-green  mountains  capped  with  eternal  snows. 
Cropping  right  out  of  the  plain  is  a  great  mole  of  basalt 
rock  where  Pedro  de  Valdivia  and  his  one  hundred  and 
fifty  soldiers  built  their  fortress  as  a  defense  against  the 
Indians.  This  striking  crag,  two  hundred  feet  high, 
whose  base  covers  ten  city  blocks,  was  beautified  by 
Vicuna  Mackenna  so  that  to-day  it  is  the  center  of 
attraction  for  all  tourists,  with  its  Renaissance  entrance, 
its  Norman  towers,  its  wooded  ramparts,  its  graceful  chapel 
spire  and  its  sunset  pagoda.  At  its  base  there  was  for- 
merly a  Protestant  cemetery,  and  when  the  bodies  were 

148 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

removed  Mackenna  set  up  an  inscription  which  reads: 
"To  the  memory  of  the  exiles  from  Heaven  and  Earth." 
In  the  city  there  are  two  large  Presbyterian  churches 
with  modern  buildings,  each  of  which  has  a  Chilian  pastor. 
Chapel  work  is  conducted  in  various  sections  of  the  city. 
There  are  three  hundred  Presbyterian  members,  a  goodly 
number  of  whom  are  zealous  volunteer  workers.  Pastor 
Ibanez,  the  first  Chilian  who  prepared  himself  for  the 
ministry  in  the  United  States,  was  cut  off  after  only  a 
short  period  of  service,  but  many  others  have  since 
pursued  studies  oh  the  field. 

Boys*  Boarding  School. — One  of  the  first  enterprises  of 
our  Board  was  the  establishment  of  a  boarding  school  for 
boys  in  Santiago.  It  was  called  the  Institute  Internacional, 
and  was  an  attempt  to  duplicate  the  courses  of  the  state 
high  schools.  The  school,  however,  could  not  maintain  it- 
self in  competition  with  state-aided  establishments  and  in 
1896  the  missionary  principal  reorganized  the  courses 
so  as  to  ofifer  a  practical  training  to  boys  of  the  wealthier 
families,  and  changed  its  name  to  that  of  "El  Institute 
Ingles."  It  stands  for  commercial  preparation,  moral 
discipline,  and  the  acquisition  of  English.  It  is  attended 
by  eighty  to  one  hundred  boarders,  an  equal  number  of 
boys  who  take  lunch  in  the  building,  and  fifty  to  sixty 
children  who  live  about  the  neighborhood. 

Since  1897  the  Institute  has  been  self-supporting  and 
its  graduates  have  entered  business  and  pubUc  Hfe.  The 
boys  read  the  Bible  each  day  and  enjoy  close  contact 
with  American  college  graduates,  four  or  five  of  whom 
.are  members  of  the  teaching  staff. 

Union  Efforts. — In  1913  the  Presbyterian  and  Method- 
ist boards  combined  their  efforts  in  a  Union  Theological 
School  for  the  training  of  pastors  and  evangelists. 
Attendance  has  risen  from  seven  to  eleven  (1916).  In 
the  same  year  these  two  missions  agreed  to  consolidate 
their    official    organs,   El  Heraldo  Evangelico   and   El 

149 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Cristiano,  so  that  for  more  than  a  year  two  thousand 
copies  of  a  weekly  religious  journal,  El  Heraldo  Cris- 
tiano, have  been  issued  for  the  membership  throughout 
Chile. 

The  Central  Valley. — The  most  populous  region  of 
Chile  extends  south  along  the  main  line  of  railway.  This 
field  embraces  a  number  of  provincial  capitals — Ran- 
cagua  (eight  thousand),  San  Fernando  (ten  thou- 
sand), Curico  (twelve  thousand  five  hundred),  Talca 
(thirty-five  thousand)  and  Linares  (seven  thousand). 
Curico  is  our  missionary's  residence.  On  either  side  of 
the  railway  lie  the  rich  farm  lands,  which  supply  Chile 
with  grain,  fruit  and  cattle. 

In  each  of  the  towns  mentioned  we  have  growing  con- 
gregations, but  the  smaller  towns  and  the  rural  com- 
munities have  never  been  evangelized  or  visited  except 
by  Bible  colporteurs  on  account  of  the  scarcity  of  funds 
and  the  lack  of  trained  men. 

The  Old  Southern  Capital. — Concepcion  (sixty-five 
thousand)  has  been  a  center  since  1878  with  outstations 
in  Chilian  (forty  thousand),  Parral  (six  thousand), 
Traiguen  (four  thousand),  Los  Sauces  (eight  hundred) 
and  a  number  of  points  visited  from  Traiguen. 

Concepcion  has  a  beautiful  church  and  an  auxiliary 
chapel  where  a  day  school  was  begun  in  1914. 

Work  for  Women  and  Special  Classes. — The  women 
of  Chile  who  have  become  interested  in  the  gospel  are  the 
most  needy  and  deser\dng  of  all  our  constituency.  As 
one  Chilian  delegate  asserted  at  Panama:  "We  can  never 
win  Chile  for  Christ  until  we  have  won  her  women  for 
him."  While  missionaries'  wives  have  devoted  all  the 
time  and  strength  they  could  spare  to  their  sisters  and 
have  accomplished  much  for  the  blessing  of  Chilian  women 
and  for  the  enrichment  of  their  homes,  special  effort  to 

150 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

organize  and  develop  a  working  force  of  evangelical 
women  was  not  made  until  1915. 

For  the  two  thousand  university  students  in  Santiago 
no  spiritual  care  has  been  provided  by  any  mission, 
although  their  need  has  been  recognized.  For  the  past 
four  years  two  of  our  missionaries  have  acted  as  instruc- 
tors in  the  Enghsh  Department  of  the  Institute  Pedago- 
gico  where  a  plane  of  contact  has  been  estabhshed. 

The  success  that  has  attended  the  establishment  of 
day  schools  for  the  children  of  our  congregations  consti- 
tutes an  appeal  for  a  larger  number  of  these  week-day 
chapels. 

Cliile's  most  pressing  need  is  a  trained  and  consecrated 
ministr}^  to  carry  the  gospel  throughout  the  land. 

The  cultured  classes,  who  lead  in  every  other  national 
undertaking,  must  be  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  Christ, 
but  first  of  all  they  must  be  reached  by  love  and  saved  by 
grace. 

No  people  in  all  Latin  America  have  greater  promise 
than  those  in  Chile.  Patriotism  is  their  ruling  passion. 
When  they  know  Jesus  as  they  know  their  snow-covered 
mountains  and  their  flower-bedecked  valleys,  they  w^ill 
love  him  with  the  same  ardor  and  serve  him  with  the 
same  high  courage.  One  of  them  who  has  dedicated  his 
choice  gifts  to  his  Master  for  his  fellow  ChiUans  charged 
a  returning  missionary  in  these  terms:  ''Tell  them  in  the 
United  States  of  our  needs  and  of  the  evils  that  afflict 
us;  tell  them  that  there  are  five  thousand  ChiHans  who 
believe  that  only  Christ  will  make  this  part  of  earth, 
so  loved  by  them,  a  happy  land,  and  that  these  Chilian 
Christians  are  ready  to  welcome  every  messenger  of  the 
cross." 

We  have  our  command,  and  our  invitation. 

BRAZIL 

The  history  of  the  Colony  has  been  sketched  already 
in  Chapter  II  up  to  the  bloodless  Revolution  of  1889 

151 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIX  AMERICA 

which  resulted  in  the  proclamation  of  the  Republic  of 
the  United  States  of  Brazil. 

The  coast  region  has  been  in  contact  with  Europe  for 
centuries  so  that  all  the  refinements  of  civilization  are 
to  be  found  there.  The  Brazilians  of  the  interior  who 
live  more  simply  are,  as  a  rule,  small  farmers.  The 
Indian  population  variously  estimated  at  from  two 
hundred  thousand  to  one  million  is  to  be  found  cliiefly 
in  the  forests  and  on  the  tablelands  where  the  many 
rivers  of  Brazil  take  their  rise.  The  one  fact  that  strikes 
an  observer  is  the  marked  tendency  to  develop  the  strip 
along  the  coast  line  and  along  the  banks  of  the  Amazon. 
Since  Christian  missions  follow  the  people  in  their  settle- 
ment of  territory,  it  is  not  surprising  that  most  of  our 
mission  stations  are  comparatively  near  the  coast,  from 
Para  at  the  mouth  of  the  Amazon  to  Rio  Grande  do  Sul 
which  borders  on  Uruguay. 

The  Brazilians.— In  North  America  the  slightest 
infusion  of  negro  blood  puts  one  into  the  category  of 
blacks;  in  Brazil,  the  marked  preponderance  of  European 
blood  entitles  a  man  to  be  classified  as  white.  There  are 
four  strains  in  Brazil — the  white,  the  Indian,  the  negro 
and  the  large  class  of  mixed  blood.  Racial  repulsion  is 
not  so  pronounced  as  in  the  northern  climes  and  the 
ethnological  puzzle  is  a  knotty  one.  The  intermarriage  of 
the  white  and  the  negro  produced  the  mulatto;  that 
of  the  white  and  the  Indian,  the  mameluco;  the  union 
of  the  negro  and  the  Indian,  the  cafuso. 

As  a  rule,  preponderance  of  European  blood  usually 
carries  with  it  superior  mentahty  though  this  is  not 
always  the  case.  The  Brazilians  themselves  prefer  to 
face  their  problems  as  men  and  women  without  attribut- 
ing too  much  importance  to  the  bias  of  ancestry.  The 
motherland  has  sent  a  constant  stream  of  Portuguese 
to  her  former  colony  and  Brazil  has  been  enriched,  even 
in  modern  times,  by  the  contributions  of  the  sons  of 

152 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

Lusitania  who  emigrate  in  large  numbers.  Viscount 
Bryce  writes :  "I  have  observed  that  the  Brazilian,  though 
modified  in  some  parts  of  the  country  by  Indian  or  negro 
blood,  is  primarily  a  Portuguese."* 

An  Enchanting  Land. — To  describe  this  people,  spir- 
ited, adventurou'.^,  poetical,  quick  to  understand  and 
prompt  to  act  in  emergency,  with  all  their  faults  and 
foibles,  would  be  a  fascinating  task.  To  paint  in  the 
background  of  the  canvas  and  show  something  of  the 
magical  land  they  inhabit  with  its  shimmering  coast  line, 
its  smiling  uplands,  its  variegated  mountain  crests  and 
its  mar\clous  tropical  forests  would  tax  the  utmost  skill 
of  an  artist.  One  could  dilate  on  the  wonders  and  the 
grandeur  of  the  Rio  de  Janeiro  for  an  entire  chapter. 

This  is  the  land  which  Christ  would  make  a  fair  and 
prosperous  domain  yet  not  more  than  a  small  portion 
of  it  has  yet  been  won  for  him. 

Latin  America's  Greatest  Mission  Field.— Neverthe- 
less, our  reader  must  realize  that  he  has  before  him  one 
of  the  world's  mission  fields  which  is  great  not  only  in 
opportunity  but  conspicuous  in  what  has  already  been 
achieved  through  the  favor  of  our  Lord.  Since  Simon- 
ton  entered,  how  has  the  Word  been  confirmed  by  the 
living  Christ?  A  delegate  to  the  Panama  Congress  whose 
interest  in  Brazil  was  heightened  by  years  of  separation 
from  that  same  land  where  he  was  bom,  took  pains  to 
summarize  the  results  of  two  generations  of  Christian 
work.  He  declared  with  pardonable  enthusiasm :  "Brazil 
represents  one  of  the  great  triumphs  of  Christianity. 
Membership  in  the  evangelical  churches  is  as  follows: 
Presbyterian  (North,  South  and  Brazilian)      22,000 

Baptist 12,517 

Methodist  (South) 6,957 

Congregational 2,000 

*  "South  America,"  p.  416. 

153 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Protestant  Episcopal 1 ,350 

Seventh  Day  Adventist 1 ,837 

South  American  EvangeUcal  Union 500 


47,161 
The  Presbyterians  added  some  twenty-four  hundred 
members  on  confession  in  1915,  the  Baptists  seventeen 
hundred  and  sixty-six,  the  Methodists  four  hundred  and 
twenty-nine — in  all  four  thousand  five  hundred  and 
ninety- five  in  a  single  year.  Accessions  in  all  the 
churches  amounted  to  over  fifty-four  hundred. 

"There  are  five  hundred  and  one  organized  churches, 
two  hundred  and  eighty-four  buildings,  almost  all  paid 
for,  two  hundred  and  six  Brazilian  ministers.  Their 
gifts  for  1915  amounted  to  $221,906.00  (American  gold). 
Three  new  churches  were  organized  during  the  year." 

Self-Maintenance. — "The  spirit  of  the  Brazilian  Church 
is  hopeful  and  determined.  The  Presbyterian  General 
Assembly  of  Brazil  has  resolved  to  carry  the  gospel  into 
the  uttermost  township  of  their  native  land!" 

Brazil  is  the  one  Latin  American  field  where  the  prob- 
lem of  self-support  is  being  solved  satisfactorily  because 
the  Brazilian  Christians  of  means  have  given  liberally 
of  their  substance  after  gi\nng  themselves  to  the  Lord. 
The  poor  members  have  done  their  full  share  as  well,  so 
that  the  Brazilian  Church  is  united  in  facing  financial 
problems.  The  older  churches  such  as  Rio  and  Sao  Paulo 
are  large  contributors  to  the  fund  for  supplementing  the 
gifts  of  the  younger  and  less  favored  churches. 

Gifted  Sons  of  Brazil. — Brazil,  likewise,  has  given 
some  of  her  best  sons  for  the  Lord's  work.  The  three 
delegates  from  Brazil  to  the  Panama  Congress,  Senior 
Alvaro  Reis  of  Rio,  Senior  Eduardo  Pereira  of  Sao  Paulo, 
and  Professor  Erasmo  Braga  of  the  Theological  Seminary 
at  Campinas  are  men  who  have  wrought  marvels  for  the 

154 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

cause  of  Christ.  They  are  only  three  of  the  evangelical 
leaders.  Brazil  has  every  reason  to  be  proud  of  them  for 
they  are  able  to  command  attention  and  compel  admira- 
tion in  any  gathering  of  Christian  workers. 

Their  contributions  to  the  discussions  of  the  Panama 
Congress  were  among  the  most  valuable.  Rev.  Alvaro 
Reis  is,  by  common  admission,  the  leading  pulpit 
orator  of  Brazil  and  pastor  of  a  great  metropoHtan  church 
that  has  raised  fifteen  daughter  congregations.  Rev. 
Eduardo  Pereira  has  won  a  large  following  among 
the  upper  class  of  Sao  Paulo  and  his  rating  as  a 
pedagogue  and  author  of  textbooks  is  the  highest.  Pro- 
fessor Braga  represents  the  spirit  of  rising  Brazil.  His 
father,  an  evangelical  pastor,  raised  a  large  family,  who 
have  been  given  the  best  modern  education  and  have 
their  talent  and  their  training  to  throw  into  the  balance 
for  the  Master. 

A  Wonderful  Beginning. — The  sheer  ability  of  such 
men  as  these  and  the  momentum  derived  from  a  national 
movement  under  two  hundred  and  six  BraziHan  ministers 
insures  the  continuity  and  advance  of  the  evangelical  en- 
terprise in  Brazil.  Itisself-propagating,  self-governing  and 
self-supporting.  It  registers  as  notable  an  achievement  as 
any  nation  in  the  history  of  missions.  There  has  been  a 
schism  among  its  members  but  the  breach  is  healing 
fast. 

The  reincorporation  of  the  Independent  Presbyterians 
(one  synod,  three  presbyteries  and  eight  thousand 
members)  with  the  General  Assembly  of  Brazil  is  con- 
fidently expected  wdthin  a  short  time  for  the  leaders  have 
resumed  fraternal  amity  through  the  Panama  Congress 
and  other  movements  that  tend  to  unify  the  whole 
Presbyterian  Church.  Best  of  all,  the  inefi'aceable  stamp 
of  Presbyterian  doctrine  and  polity  has  been  set  upon 
Brazil  and  the  system  freely  chosen  has  worked  admirably 
in  the  "land  of  the  twilight  trails." 

155 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIX  AMERICA 

Comity. — The  Presbyterian  missionaries,  both  North 
and  South,  cooperate  heartily  with  the  national  pres- 
byteries. In  the  Seminary  at  Campinas,  Professor  Braga 
is  supported  by  Doctor  J.  Rockwell  Smith  of  tlie  Southern 
and  Doctor  Thomas  J.  Porter  of  the  Northern  Pres- 
byterian Church  and  this  brotherly  cooperation  is  fairly 
topical  of  the  whole  work  in  Brazil. 

College  Influence. — All  over  Central  and  South  Brazil 
there  are  citizens  who  gratefully  remember  Mackenzie 
College  and  the  Gimnasio  de  Lavras  where  evangelical 
ideals  were  instilled  into  their  developing  Uves. 

Mackenzie  College,  which  began  as  a  mission  school, 
has  exercised  the  strongest  influence  in  molding  the 
modern  educational  system  of  Brazil,  and  is  one  of  the 
most  widely  known  educational  institutions  in  Latin 
America.  There  are  enrolled  one  hundred  and  twenty 
college  students,  two  hundred  and  ninety  high-school 
students,  and  four  hundred  and  twenty  common  school 
students. 

The  girls'  schools  have  brought  health  and  happiness 
to  countless  Brazilian  mothers  whose  Uves  might  other- 
wise have  been  prosaic,  dull  and  circumscribed. 

Education. — Professor  Braga  is  responsible  for  the 
following  statement:  "The  last  census  (1901)  reported 
eighty-four  per  cent  illiteracy  in  all  Brazil;  in  the  states 
of  Rio,  Santa  Catharina,  Parana,  Rio  Grande  do  Sul 
and  Sao  Paulo  where  the  Protestant  churches  flourish,  it 
has  been  reduced  by  one  half.  Wherever  we  find  an 
evangelical  community  there  is  popular  education  that 
aims  to  include  the  entire  population."  * 

The  General  Assembly  of  Brazil  plans  for  education  as 
it  does  for  evangelism  or  church  erection.  This  body 
represents  two  synods,  eight  presbyteries,  sixty-nine 
ministers,  one  hundred  and  twenty  churches  and  fifteen 
thousand    members.      Missionaries   of    the   American 

156 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 


Girls  of  the  Charlotte  Kemper  Seminary,  Lavras,  Brazil 

najiiiii 


Boys  in  Preparatory  Department,  Gimnasio  de  Lavras 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

Presbyterian  churclies  have  been  members  of  it  but  it 
is  entirely  self-governing.  Enough  missionary  influence 
has  been  exerted  upon  all  its  members  to  make  it  a  church 
which  builds  modest  chapels  and  good  schools  rather 
than  great  cathedrals,  and  to  fill  both  chapels  and  schools 
with  earnest  seekers  after  piety  and  efficiency. 

Distribution  of  Territory. — The  work  has  been  generally 
promoted  by  planning  for  the  country  as  a  whole.  The 
Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of  America  has 
forty  missionaries  in  the  states  of  Sao  Paulo,  Parana,  Rio 
de  Janeiro  and  Santa  Catharina  in  the  south  and  in 
Sergipe  and  Bahia,  Central  Brazil.  Matto  Grosso  (The 
Great  Forest),  Goyaz  and  Minas  Geraes  have  been  en- 
tered since  1912. 

The  Presbyterian  Church  of  the  United  States  of 
America  has  thirty-six  missionaries  distributed  among  the 
states  of  Sao  Paulo,  Rio,  Minas  Geraes,  Pernambuco,  Rio 
Grande  do  Norte,  Ceara,  Maranhao,  Para  and  Ama- 
zonas.  In  the  vast  State  of  Amazonas,  Brazilians  have 
occupied  Manaos  which  is  more  than  halfway  across  the 
continent  and  is  the  point  where  shipping  from  the 
upper  Amazon  is  transferred  to  ocean  steamers. 

Industrial  and  Agricultural  Schools. — ^At  Ponte  Nova 
we  have  a  ranch  containing  forty-six  hundred  acres  of 
wooded  land  with  water  power,  irrigation  and  a  large 
tract  of  virgin  forest — a  real  missionary  plant  where  boys 
and  girls  are  afforded  general  education  with  special 
training  in  agriculture  and  the  useful  trades. 

The  Lavras  Gimnasio  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
(South)  also  has  an  agricultural  coUege  attached. 

Obstacles  Overcome. — Since  the  first  missionary  of 
the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  A.  G.  Simon- 
ton,  landed  in  1857  and  Rev.  E.  Lane,  D.  D.,  and 
Rev.  G.  N.  Morton  began  their  work  for  the  Southern 

157 


THE  LIVING  ClIKIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

rresbyterians  in  1869,  the  land  has  been  trans'formed 
in  a  religious  sense.  We  must  not  imagine  for  a  moment 
that  the  victories  have  been  easy  ones.  Clericalism  has 
not  abated  although  the  people  of  Brazil  have  expressed 
a  decided  preference  for  the  evangehcal  doctrine  and  its 
representatives.  Opposition  to  the  gospel  has  assumed 
violent  forms  and  there  are  many  of  the  workers  who  can 
relate  thrilling  experiences.  All  over  Latin  America 
there  are  "lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort"  whose  services 
can  be  purchased  for  a  bribe.  In  the  interior  of  Brazil 
there  are  bands  of  thugs  whom  the  rural  police  cannot 
extirpate  because  they  are  under  the  protection  of  some 
influential  border  poHtician.  Not  many  years  ago  when 
beloved  Doctor  Butler  was  attempting  to  open  up  work 
in  Conhotinho  in  the  State  of  Pernambuco,  he  was  mobbed 
and  it  was  his  native  helper,  riding  by  his  side,  who  inter- 
posed his  own  breast  to  receive  the  assassin's  dagger 
that  was  aimed  at  Doctor  Butler. 

Senior  Vera  Cruz,  one  of  Doctor  Butler's  native  helpers, 
was  sent  to  Conhotinho  for  the  purpose  of  renting  a  hall 
and  opening  up  preaching  services  there.  When  his  com- 
ing was  known,  an  excited  mob  surrounded  the  hotel  and 
demanded  that  he  leave  the  town  on  the  next  train. 
Finding  it  impossible  to  overcome  the  opposition,  he 
decided  to  go,  and  went  out  and  sat  on  the  roadside 
waiting  for  a  train  to  come.  W^iile  he  was  sitting 
there,  the  mob  decided  to  stone  him. 

On  the  hillside,  a  little  way  from  the  station,  lived  a 
man  named  Caetano,  who  was  the  captain  of  a  band  of 
ruffians  in  that  locality.  He  was  sent  for  to  come  and 
open  the  attack  by  throwing  the  first  stone.  When  he 
came  down,  Vera  Cruz  was  pra}ing  aloud.  Caetano 
listened  to  his  words.  He  was  saying,  "0  my  Father, 
is  it  to-day  that  I  shall  see  thee?  Am  I  worthy  thus  to 
suffer  for  thy  cause?"  Something  in  the  words  or  tone 
of  Vera  Cruz  arrested  the  ruffian's  attention.  He  stopped 
and  thought  for  a  moment,  and  then  went  up  to  Vera 

158 


A  HALF  CENTURY  OF  EVANGELISM 

Cruz  and  said,  ''What  are  you  talking  about,  and  whom 
are  you  talking  to?"  He  answered,  "I  am  talking  to  my 
heavenly  Father."  Caetano  then  said  to  him,  "Come 
with  me,"  and  started  up  the  hill  toward  his  house, 
Vera  Cru2  walking  with  him  and  the  mob  follow- 
ing. 

\Vlien  they  entered  Caetano's  yard,  he  turned  and  faced 
the  mob  and  said,  ''This  man  is  my  guest;  whosoever 
touches  him,  touches  me;  let  no  man  lay  hands  on  him." 
When  he  had  entered  the  house  he  said  to  Vera  Cruz, 
"What  do  you  want?  WTiat  did  you  come  here  for  ?" 
Vera  Cruz  answered,  "I  came  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
I  want  to  preach  it."  Caetano  replied,  "What  do  you 
need  in  order  to  preach  the  gospel?"  Vera  Cruz  said, 
"I  need  people  to  hear  me."  Caetano  went  out  to  the 
gate  and  called  to  the  mob  and  said,  "Come  here,  men; 
this  man  wants  to  preach  the  gospel;  come  in  and  let  us 
hear  him."  As  many  as  the  house  could  hold  came  in, 
and  he  preached  to  them.  WTien  he  was  through,  the 
congregation  was  dismissed  and  another  houseful  was 
brought  in.  This  was  repeated  until  the  whole  mob  of 
several  hundred  persons  had  heard  him  preach. 

Vera  Cruz  was  then  m\dted  to  spend  the  night  with 
Caetano.  During  the  night,  he  was  prating  aloud  again, 
and  Caetano,  hearing  him  talking,  cut  a  hole  through  the 
mud  wall  to  find  out  whom  he  was  talking  to,  and  what 
he  was  saying.  When  he  had  again  heard  Vera  Cruz  pray, 
he  was  smitten  to  the  heart.  He  came  in  and  said,  "Pray 
for  me."  The  two  knelt  down  together,  and  this  hardened 
ruffian  was  brought  as  a  humble  penitent  to  the  feet 
of  Christ. 

As  he  was  formerly  a  leader  of  ruffianism,  so  he  has 
since  been  a  leader  of  the  Christians  in  all  that  commun- 
ity, where  there  are  six  organized  churches,  containing 
between  six  hundred  and  seven  hundred  members.  So 
it  comes  to  pass  in  Brazil,  as  in  the  old  times  and  as 
always,  that  those  who  preach  the  gospel  have  no  need 

159 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

to  be  ashamed  of  it,  because  it  has  been  found  to  be  "the 
power  of  God  unto  salvation." 


Spread  of  the  Gospel. — ^W^estward  toward  the  unclaimed 
interior  the  gospel  is  marching  triumphantly.  Few  of 
us  have  ever  paused  to  consider  the  physical  difhculties 
of  the  great  evangelical  enterprise.  Brazil  has  few  rail- 
ways and  its  roads,  in  the  regions  remote  from  the  coast 
are  mere  trails  over  the  hills,  across  the  streams  and 
through  the  forests.  The  two  states  of  Para  and  Ama- 
zonas  have  an  area  larger  than  the  United  States  east  of 
the  Mississippi. 

The  mother  church  in  Rio  will  bear  favorable  compar- 
ison with  any  great  city  church  with  its  cultured  pastor 
and  his  well-qualified  assistant,  its  choice  congregation 
and  its  city  missions  planted  all  around. 

The  general  development  of  evangelical  work  in  the 
occupied  territory  always  elicits  the  warmest  admira- 
tion. Even  the  worthy  president  of  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Northern  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev. 
George  Alexander,  D.D.,  so  well-informed  on  missions 
in  general,  was  compelled  to  confess  that  the  work 
surpassed  all  the  conceptions  he  had  previously  formed. 

Well-edited  religious  weeklies  find  their  way  into  the 
remotest  hamlets,  and  congregations  have  been  brought 
together  through  the  conversion  of  Bible-readingbelievers. 

The  Unfinished  Task.— But  notwithstanding  the 
gratifying  development  of  the  Brazilian  Church  until 
our  day,  the  great  interior  has  not  yet  been  evangelized 
and  the  Indian  tribes  wait  for  the  law  and  the  gospel 
that  are  to  revolutionize  their  mode  of  living.  Eighty- 
four  per  cent  of  the  population  are  still  illiterate  and 
millions  have  not  yet  heard  the  gospel. 

A  special  campaign  is  demanded  for  the  students  in 
the  cities.  Not  one  per  cent  of  them  profess  any  religion 
and  their  lives  reveal  the  sterility  of  their  negati\T  creed. 

160 


A  HAI.F  GExNTUHY  OF  EVANGELISM 

Brazil  has  abolished  slavery,  proclaimed  reUgious 
liberty,  transformed  her  Capitol,  and  given  birth  to  a 
nationalized  evangelical  church,  which  is  foremost  in 
self-help. 

Surely  she  deserves  what  she  asks  from  us — brotherly 
cooperation  in  Christian  undertakings  that  lie  beyond 
her  immediate  powers. 

If  every  missionary  were  withdrawn  to-morrow,  the 
Christian  Church  of  Brazil  would  continue  its  increase 
but  the  Brazilian  brethren  still  need  and  crave  every 
possible  reenforcement  in  order  that  Christ  may  be  made 
knowTi  in  all  the  twenty-two  federal  units  of  the  United 
States  of  Brazil. 

In  Mexico  the  combined  labors  of  evangelist  and 
educator  have  resulted  in  a  Presbyterian  constituency 
of  seven  thousand  souls  and  our  workers  have  been  able 
to  lead  more  than  one  hundred  men  to  become  Christian 
workers. 

In  Guatemala  the  Presbyterian  Church  has  entered  the 
field,  occupied  a  few  strategic  points,  planted  a  few 
schools  and  one  hospital  in  an  immense  territory  filled 
with  needy  souls. 

The  open  door  still  stands  ajar  but  we  have  not  come 
into  full  possession  of  the  land.  Guatemala  is  the  most 
influential  of  the  Central  American  republics  and  ought 
to  be  filled  with  the  knowledge  of  our  Lord  until  the 
overflow  blesses  the  whole  Caribbean. 

In  Venezuela  we  have  only  squatter's  rights.  Enough 
has  been  accomplished  to  show  the  possibility  of  a  hun- 
dred times  more. 

In  Colombia  the  few  missionaries  have  endeavored 
to  carry  a  load  which  must  be  shared  with  the  Colombians 
and  other  foreign  workers  if  the  gospel  is  borne  to  the 
unevangelized  millions. 

In  Chile  the  evangelical  church  is  developing  a  con- 
sciousness of  its  tasks,  a  ministry  is  being  trained  and 
the  national  workers  alongside  their  American  brethren 

161 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

are  resolutely  planning  for  the  evangelization  of  their 
land. 

Brazil  has  been  a  most  encouraging  and  successful 
evangelistic  enterprise.  Medical  missions  are  yet  in 
their  infancy  among  Brazilians  for  only  one  missionary 
doctor  of  the  Southern  Presbyterian  Church  conducts 
that  enterprise.  An  indigenous  church  already  exists 
and  is  preparing  its  leaders  and  studying  its  program. 
The  older  mission  churches  have  already  become  mission- 
ary societies. 

Scant  achievements  these  may  appear  yet  they  are 
foundations  laid  by  great  men  and  women  who  have 
labored  on,  year  after  year,  undaunted  by  the  foes  that 
oppose  them  and  undismayed  by  the  burdens  of  so  vast 
an  enterprise  that  rest  on  the  shoulders  of  so  small  a 
number. 

If  North  America  felt  the  same  keen  concern  over 
Latin  American  souls  that  she  is  beginning  to  develop 
concerning  Latin  American  markets,  results  would  be 
immeasurably  greater. 


162 


CHAPTER  VII 
PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

In  earlier  chapters  we  have  watched  the  interplay 
of  forces  that  have  produced  modern  Latin  America. 
Fecund  Nature  has  assured  a  great  future  for  these  lands. 
Vigorous  bloods  have  flowed  together  in  the  people — • 
Iberian,  Roman,  Celtic,  Vandal,  Goth,  Visigoth,  Semitic 
and  Indian.  Ambition,  the  spring  of  adventure  and  prog- 
ress, has  elevated  the  Latin  American  spirit  so  that 
eighty  million  men  and  women  are  aspiring  after 
freedom  and  all  the  blessings  that  freedom  brings.  Al- 
though the  multitudes  are  being  slowly  civilized  by  their 
more  fortunate  brethren,  the  missionary  is  in  demand 
because  he  offers  a  divine  force  instead  of  a  mere  ideal. 
Obstacles  to  Christian  work  are  not  serious  enough  to  deter 
the  man  of  faith,  for  such  a  one  finds  the  fields  white  unto 
the  harvest.  On  account  of  the  inertia  of  centuries, 
Latin  American  opinion  is  a  ponderous  weight  to  move, 
therefore  we  are  not  discouraged  if  the  rate  of  advance- 
ment be  slow  during  the  first  few  decades. 

Over  the  movement  of  history  we  have  no  control, 
yet  the  impetus  of  the  past  will  carry  far  into  the 
coming  years  in  many  phases  of  life.  Both  the  present 
and  the  future  of  Latin  America  mean  more  to  us  when 
we  know  its  past  and  both  of  them  are  ours  to  mold. 

In  daring  enterprise  no  founders  of  a  new  order  have 
excelled  the  hardy  conquerors  who  hewed  their  way  to 
fame  in  Central  and  South  America.  Certainly  no  land 
has  produced  patriots  of  a  liigher  order.  Men  have  died 
gladly  for  the  defense  of  human  freedom  on  Latin 
American  soil  and  as  lovers  of  hberty  the  Latin  Americans 
stand  preeminent  among  the  nations. 

Among   the   upper   classes,   at   least,    Goethe's  high 

163 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOIi  LATIN  AMERICA 

estimate  of  human  personality  has  been  freely  accepted. 
The  common  view  is  that  the  citizens  of  these  states  con- 
stitute the  chief  national  asset. 

The  highest  ideals  of  democracy  have  swayed  popular 
thought  and  the  best  of  laws  have  graced  the  statute 
books. 

The  stamp  of  imperfection  is  on  all  human  achievement 
and  it  would  be  unfair  to  expect  a  flawless  society  in 
Latin  America.    What,  then,  is  lacking? 

The  excellent  laws  are  a  dead  letter  because  the  spirit 
beliind  them  is  not  strong.  Concerning  this,  Viscount 
Bryce  remarks :  "To  keep  these  unreaUzed  ideals  floating 
before  one's  eyes  may  be  better  than  to  have  no  ideals 
at  all,  but  for  the  purposes  of  actual  politics,  the  result 
is  the  same  either  Avay,  for  that  which  is  secured  for  the 
principles  embodied  in  the  laws  is  what  M.  Clemenceau 
happily  calls  *an  authority  chiefly  theoretic'  "* 

Moral  powerlessness  seems  written  over  all. 

A  mammoth  ecclesiastical  machine  has  failed  to  lay 
hold  on  the  national  conscience. 

Moral  anaemia  is  a  malady  that  most  Latin  Americans 
admit  and  lament. 

The  pathos  of  an  unattained  ideal  is  further  accen- 
tuated by  the  settled  conviction  that  much  that  has  been 
accompUshed  in  other  lands  is  unattainable  in  Latin 
America.  Into  the  common  calculation  a  living,  all- 
powerful,  divine  God-man  does  not  enter,  so  that  the 
equation  can  never  be  balanced  without  him. 

Pressing  Problems. — It  would  be  a  mistake  to  try  to 
persuade  ourselves  that  the  Latin  Americans,  alone  and 
unaided,  must  work  out  their  present  problems.  The 
\  day  has  forever  passed  when  any  one  civilized  nation  can 
work  wholly  among  her  own  sons  and  within  her  own 
borders.  Rising  nationahsm  has  been  swiftly  followed 
by  rising  internationalism. 

*  "South  America,"  p.  416. 

164 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

A  Pan-American  spirit  is  asserting  itself  in  all  influen- 
tial circles,  and  relationships  between  the  two  Americas 
will  be  increasingly  affected  by  it.  We  have  every  reason 
to  believe  and  every  chance  to  prove  that  \ital  Chris- 
tianity is  still  the  greatest  transforming  force  among  men 
and  nations. 

Christian  sentiment  and  Christian  principle  ought  to 
accompany  every  transaction  between  North  America 
and  her  neighbors  to  the  south. 

How  to  Christianize  Commerce. — ^Any  business  stand- 
ards that  are  low  enough  to  admit  sharp  practices  will 
react  against  North  America  in  the  course  of  time. 
Belief  in  the  commercial  integrity  of  a  merchant  is  one 
of  the  forces  that  sustain  international  trade. 

The  United  States  cannot  increase  her  markets  in 
Latin  America  until  her  agents  abroad  sell  lirst-class 
articles  at  a  fair  price  in  the  open  market  and  reveal 
their  moral  caliber  by  gentlemanly  deahng.  Latin 
Americans,  like  all  other  men,  like  to  be  trusted  and 
treated  in  a  courteous  manner.  All  the  more  is  this 
true  among  a  people  who,  rightly  or  wrongly,  place  high 
store  on  their  personal  dignity. 

But  North  America  owes  Latin  America  something 
more.  The  best  type  of  Christian  salesman  and  engineer 
should  be  selected  for  foreign  service.  We  have  in  mind 
the  representative  of  a  large  New  England  hardware  firm 
whose  success  in  Latin  America  has  been  striking.  He 
speaks  Spanish  fluently,  has  adapted  himself  w^onder- 
fully  to  Latin  American  social  and  business  usages, 
speaks  truth  and  deHvers  truth  in  merchandise,  confesses 
his  Lord  simply  and  naturally  in  a  score  of  ways,  and 
cheers  the  hearts  of  all  the  missionaries  along  his  routes. 
The  founder  of  a  well-known  British  importing  firm 
enjoys  the  reputation  of  a  santo,  or  holy  man,  up  and 
down  the  w^est  coast. 

Latin  American  commerce  and  industry  demand  the 
165 


Till-:  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMI:R1CA 

best  that  North  America  affords.  The  best  that  America 
or  any  land  can  offer  is  Christian  character  and  ser\ncc 
to  assist  Latin  American  commercial  leaders  in  their  in- 
dividual lives  and  to  raise  the  standards  of  trade  every- 
where. 

How  to  Sanctify  Intellectual  Contacts. — Latin  Amer- 
ica has  been  striving  after  efficiency  in  education  but 
her  systems  have  all  broken  down  on  account  of  moral 
and  religious  defects. 

Latin  Americans  recognize  that  the  foundations  of 
the  United  States  were  laid  by  men  of  profound  spiritual 
experience.  One  of  them  publicly  announced  at  Panama: 
"The  success  of  the  United  States  of  America  has  been 
due,  in  large  measure,  in  my  opinion,  to  the  deeply  relig- 
ious training  of  the  Puritans."* 

Latin  American  Christians  have  a  right  to  expect 
unhurried  visits  from  men  of  science  and  letters,  eminent 
enough  to  command  attention  from  the  cultured  classes, 
and  who,  in  addition,  are  exponents  of  the  positive 
Christian  faith  that  lies  at  the  base  of  whatever  moral 
grandeur  North  America  has  displayed. 

How  to  Recompense  the  Indian,  the  Peon,  and  the 
Negro. — The  United  States  will  derive  more  wealth  each 
year  from  Latin  America — from  mines,  from  sugar,  coft'ee, 
cacao  and  fruit  plantations.  Enormous  fortunes  are 
being  amassed  by  American  capitahsts.  The  peon,  the 
Indian  and  the  negro  are  the  chief  producers  of  dividends 
and  their  meager  wages  are  no  adequate  return  for  an 
enforced  and  unequal  partnership.  Foreign  investments 
are  often  most  profitable  because  low  standards  of  living 
and  cheap  labor  enable  a  syndicate  to  lay  up  profits 
without  the  rigid  inspection  of  fellow  citizens. 

Some  Christian  business  men  have  recognized  their 
duty  and  even  non-Christian  employers  have  assisted. 

*  Judge  Emilio  del  Toro. 

166 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

In  the  one  island  of  Jamaica  there  are  about  eight  hun- 
dred British  Christian  workers — almost  as  many  as  the 
number  from  all  nationahties  in  Latin  America.  W'hy 
cannot  Americans  do  something  similar  in  Mexico, 
Colombia,  Peru  or  Brazil? 

Four  thousand  laborers  at  fifty  cents  a  day  produce 
marketable  goods  worth  thirty-eight  hundred  dollars — a 
profit  of  eighteen  hundred  dollars.  A  fair  share  of  the 
eighteen  hundred  dollars  ought  to  be  returned  to  the 
toilers  in  some  form  of  welfare,  and  what  could  there  be 
better  than  the  everlasting  gospel  with  all  its  practical 
applications? 

A  check  sent  to  your  Board  treasurer  would  bless 
both  the  giver  and  the  receiver  for  the  latter  has  to 
finance  Latin  American  missions. 

Wealth  and  Poverty. — While  the  betterment  of  social 
conditions  depends  in  large  measure  upon  Latin  Ameri- 
cans themselves,  it  is  a  task  that  will  engage  the  services 
of  all  public-spirited  men.  The  workingmen  of  Latin 
American  cities  are  being  instructed  by  advanced  thinkers 
from  Italy,  France  and  Spain.  Many  of  them  are  abreast 
of  all  labor  agitation  and  progress  in  the  United  States. 
Labor  Day  is  celebrated  in  a  great  many  cities.  Some 
predict  a  cycle  of  uprisings  in  Latin  America  similar 
to  the  strikes  and  mutinies  in  North  American  history. 
Sociology  is  a  science  that  embraces  world-wide  conditions 
and  we  must  investigate  and  relieve  side  by  side.  Surely 
we  ought  not  to  perpetuate  the  idea  so  pungently  ex- 
pressed by  Ruskin,  that  the  secret  of  getting  rich 
depends  on  the  ability  to  keep  one's  neighbor  poor. 

"Take  heed  and  beware  of  covetousness,"  adinonished 
the  Master,  with  divine  understanding  of  the  human 
heart.  The  corrupting  influence  of  misused  wealth  is 
undeniable.  The  suicidal  luxury  and  spiritual  apathy 
among  the  rich  is  even  more  marked  in  Latin  America. 
Lucre  has  but  one  Master  and  he  is  Christ.    If  he  were 

167 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

among  Americans  of  both  continents  to-day  what  would 
he  endeavor  to  have  them  do  with  their  abundance? 

Sharing  Our  Blessings. — But  in  the  immediate  future 
there  will  be  a  loud  call  for  financial  aid  to  Latin  Ameri- 
can Christians.  Their  scale  of  Uving  cannot  justly  be 
compared  with  that  of  Korea  or  Africa.  The  cause  of 
Christ  would  lose  its  prestige  if  a  large  congregation 
attempted  to  worship  in  an  open  pavilion  with  a  dirt 
floor  under  a  thatched  roof.  The  pastor  and  his  family 
in  Latin  America,  however  self-denying  and  humble 
they  may  be,  cannot  clothe  themselves  in  ornamental 
grasses  or  live  on  manioc  and  yams  in  all  parts  of  the 
continent.  Here  again,  the  Latin  self-respect  calls  for 
an  outlay  commensurate  with  the  average  standard  of 
Hfe.  Gladly  would  the  Latin  American  extend  the  gospel 
if  he  could.  Consecration  there  is,  good  will  and  energy 
are  not  lacking,  but  funds  are  needed  to  give  them  expres- 
sion in  a  country  where  land,  buildings  and  service  cost 
large  sums  of  money. 

For  generations  the  Latin  American  has  been  accus- 
tomed to  the  system  of  government  subsidies  for  religion 
and  education.  During  the  transition  period,  we  who  are 
strong  can  help  bear  the  infirmities  of  the  weak  through 
missionary  contributions.  Latin  American  patriotism 
has  not  yet  found  its  expression  in  practical  measures 
for  the  well-being  of  fellow  citizens. 

Social  Service. — The  State  Church  has  cut  the  nerve 
of  all  initiative  in  philanthropy. 

When  our  evangelical  communities  grow  larger  and 
begin  to  reach  out  to  help  neighborhoods  and  classes 
they  find  themselves  hampered  for  lack  of  equipment. 
The  mission  staff,  already  overworked,  looks  for  reen- 
forcements  from  able  leaders  in  such  excellent  under- 
takings. 

A  model  technical  college,  a  model  mission  for  Indians, 

168 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

a  model  vocational  school,  will  not  be  a  possibility  until 
some  generous  disciple  in  Europe  or  North  America 
makes  a  beginning. 

Public  Health. — Were  one  to  sit  down  calmly  and 
estimate  the  number  of  deaths  each  year  from  preventable 
diseases  in  Latin  America  the  figures  would  stagger  him. 
The  sanitation  of  the  Panama  Canal  Zone  alone  saves 
the  lives  of  thirty  thousand  Panamanians  each  year. 
Ordinary  hygiene  and  the  rational  treatment  of  common 
maladies  among  children  would  give  an  annual  increase 
to  the  population  of  at  least  a  milHon  and  a  half. 

A  corps  of  deaconess-nurses  in  each  station  would 
carry  the  gospel  of  heahng  where  it  is  most  required — into 
the  humbler  homes  of  Latin  America. 

The  Students. — There  are  at  present  forty-five  thou- 
sand young  men  and  women  in  the  universities  and  higher 
institutions  of  learning  in  Latin  America.  Professor 
Monteverde  ventured  this  judgment  at  Panama:  "In 
ten  years*  time  fifty-five  per  cent  of  them  will  be  skeptics 
and  the  remaining  forty-five  per  cent  sworn  enemies 
of  everything  religious  unless  we  win  them  for  Christ." 

They  have  much  in  common  with  student  bodies  the 
world  o\Tr  but  they  know  Kttle  of  the  possibiHties  of  the 
Christian  life,  for  it  has  been  parodied  before  their  eyes 
in  a  sterile  ecclesiastidsm.  Intellectual  sincerity  bids 
them  spurn  cant  and  sham.  Not  two  per  cent  of  them 
acknowledge  any  religious  alliance.  The  dreadful  drag 
of  passion  on  susceptible  youth  is  unchecked  by  effectual 
spiritual  control. 

The  elect  minds  of  these  nations  are  perverted  by 
doubt  and  pessimism. 

North  America  has  been  able  to  save  many  men  of 
this  class  through  her  strong  Christian  leaders.  She  has 
spared  a  few  of  these  leaders  to  Latin  America  and  the 
response  of  the  Latin  American  students  has  been  grati- 

169 


THE  LIVING  CilHIST  I'OH  LATIN  AMERICA 

fying.  Fifteen  choice  students  are  enrolled  for  Bible 
study  in  Buenos  Aires.  May  the  number  of  Christian 
student  workers  increase! 

Latin  American  Students  in  Our  Midst. — There  arc 
two  thousand  of  these  students  pursuing  courses  in  our 
North  American  universities,  technical  schools  and  col- 
leges. Here  is  our  golden  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
to  them  what  American  Christianity  means,  what  the 
Christian  home  signifies  and  what  our  Lord  inspires  us 
to  do  for  the  stranger  witliin  our  gates. 

A  South  American  diplomat  boldly  stated:  "What 
we  need  is  manhood!"  Let  all  Christian  men  in  North 
America  remember  that  true  manhood,  inseparable  from 
faith,  may  be  communicated  only  by  personal  touch 
through  the  Spirit. 

One  of  these  students,  a  lady  graduate  of  a  South 
American  State  University,  spent  several  months  study- 
ing education  and  social  reform  at  the  San  Francisco 
Exposition.  She  was  afterwards  elected  a  member  of 
the  Pan-American  Scientific  Congress  in  Washington 
(1916)  and  presented  a  paper  during  its  sessions.  When 
asked  for  her  opinion  regarding  the  outstanding  marvel 
of  American  life  she  answered  without  the  slightest 
hesitation:  "The  greatest  wonder  I  have  witnessed  in 
North  America  is  the  character  of  Miss !" 

She  referred  to  a  Christian  worker  in  one  of  our  city 
church  settlements. 

Education. — Chapters  V  and  VI  have  afiforded  some 
idea  of  how  great  Christian  educators  have  been  able  to 
guide  and  fix  whole  state  systems  in  Latin  America. 
France,  Germany  and  England  have  exercised  widest 
influence  heretofore,  because  intellectual  currents,  like 
trade,  flowed  east  and  west. 

But  there  is  truth  beyond  cavil  in  what  one  great 
educational  leader  in  Latin  America  recently  affirmed: 

170 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

"We  can  learn  twenty-five  practical  lessons  from  North 
America  to  every  one  we  derive  from  Europe." 

The  first  Latin  American,  Professor  Ernesto  Quesada, 
has  just  been  appointed  exchange  professor  at  Harvard. 
Interchange  of  professors  is  being  arranged  and  the  two 
continents  are  destined  to  mutual  help  in  the.  coming 
decade. 

Obstacles  to  Surmount. — The  Evangelical  Church  has 
been  convinced  that  no  dash  of  an  expedition  into  these 
lands,  no  tour  deforce,  will  ever  win  the  sweeping  victory 
for  Christ  that  is  required. 

Siege  methods  and  trench  warfare  are  demanded  in 
the  good  fight  of  faith. 

Three  great  and  highly  fortified  redoubts,  clericalism, 
religious  indifference  and  the  varied  forms  of  rationalism, 
bar  the  path  of  advance. 

The  priests  and  confessors  have  a  relentless  grip  on 
woman,  the  home,  and  social  customs.  The  absurd 
teaching  of  the  clergy  concerning  the  miraculous  power 
of  saints,  et  cetera,  has  produced  a  revulsion  of  feeling 
against  the  wonder-working  power  of  God  and  men  try  to 
explain  the  universe  as  the  outgrowth  of  matter.  When 
matters  of  supreme  concern  are  under  debate  and  every- 
thing is  doubt  and  negation,  the  average  man  remains 
neutral. 

Suitable  literature  must  be  prepared  for  general 
circulation.  As  Doctor  Swift,  of  the  American  Tract 
Society,  expressed  it  at  Panama:  "We  have  reached  the 
munitions'  crisis!"  Cut  oft"  Latin  American  woman  from 
the  Church,  its  social  customs,  its  stately  ritual  and 
its  Hterature — what  informing  and  ennobling  books  in 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  can  she  read?  Ask  your  Spanish 
professor  how  many  novels  are  fit  for  family  reading. 

Pan-American  Christianity. — Until  a  vital  Christian 
faith  be  firmly  rooted  in  large  sections  of  Latin  America, 

171 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

the  work  of  Christ  must  necessarily  be  a  joint  enterprise, 
in  which  the  Latin  American  Christians  work  alongside 
the  North  American  Christians.  This  involves  delicate 
relationships  and  difficult  combinations  between  the 
missionary  and  the  national  leaders.  The  time  may 
arrive  when,  pressed  on  all  sides  by  antisupernaturalism 
and  other  forms  of  irreligion,  the  State  Church  itself 
may  seek  an  ally  in  the  evangelical  body.  The  situation 
calls  for  rare  discernment,  tact,  fairness,  love  and  mag- 
nanimity, with  a  daily  practice  of  the  humility  of  Jesus. 

In  a  word,  "there  are  many  adversaries."  Were  they 
tenfold  more  than  we  know  them  to  be,  the  living  Christ, 
who  has  all  power,  both  in  heaven  and  in  earth,  is  suf- 
ficient for  every  emergency. 

Judge  Emilio  del  Toro  at  Panama  pronounced  these 
ringing  words:  "I  have  been  asked  to  state  this  evening 
what  are  the  principles  and  the  spirit  of  Christianity 
essential  to  meet  the  needs  of  Latin  America  in  our  time, 
and  I  reply:  'The  divine  teachings  of  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  conveyed  in  the  same  spirit  of  love  and  truth  in 
which  they  fell  from  the  lips  of  the  Master.' " 

Favoring  Opportunities. — Although  the  task  before 
Latin  American  missionaries  is  one  of  disconcerting 
magnitude,  there  are  many  circumstances  in  the  complex 
of  conditions  that  favor  the  undertaking. 

Tendencies  Toward  Improvement. — From  the  hollow 
mockery  of  a  formal  and  b'feless  religion  there  has  been 
a  widespread  and  healthy  reaction  already  in  most  of 
the  enlightened  republics.  The  variations  and  grada- 
tions of  materialism  and  the  vagaries  of  modern  philos- 
ophy have  brought  about  a  second  rebound. 

Most  thinking  men  in  Latin  America  are  agreed  that 
what  is  most  needed  is  at  least  some  "Power  not  them- 
selves that  makes  for  righteousness." 

A  State  Church  has  failed   to  produce  a  safe  type 

172 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

of  citizenship;  the  wild  horses  of  speculation  have  stam- 
peded toward  the  barren  wastes. 

Deep  down  in  every  heart  is  the  conviction  that  Augus- 
tine, Francis  of  Assisi,  Fenelon  and  the  mystics  were 
more  practical  than  Compte,  Spencer  and  Haeckel. 
Bergson  is  the  students'  favorite,  and  there  is  a  tide  setting 
out  toward  the  reality  of  life  controlled  from  within. 

Language. — We  seldom  pause  to  think  how  great  an 
advantage  is  offered  in  the  fact  that  there  are  only 
two  chief  languages  spoken  in  Latin  America.  If  we 
except  the  European  languages  used  in  the  Guianas, 
Trinidad,  and  the  West  Indies  and  Haiti,  and  further 
eliminate  the  Indian  dialects,  we  find  that  over  twenty 
million  use  Portuguese  and  more  than  thirty  million 
Spanish. 

These  Romance  tongues  are  comparatively  easy  for 
a  foreigner  to  acquire  at  least  well  enough  for  the  con- 
veyance of  ordinary  ideas.  They  are  impregnated  with 
religious  symbolism.  They  are  buttressed  by  a  literature 
of  richness  and  power. 

To  this  must  be  added  the  growing  demand  for  English 
which,  in  other  lands,  has  been  the  medium  for  easily 
communicated  Christian  concepts. 

Prevention  Rather  Than  Remedy. — The  cumulative 
force  of  the  evangelical  movement  is  greater  with  each 
generation.  In  dealing  with  the  children  of  our  members 
we  find  them  more  plastic  and  our  methods  can  be  more 
positive.  The  moral  level  tends  to  rise  as  we  proceed. 
Efforts  for  the  children  are  constructive  rather  than 
remedial,  and  the  inertia  of  their  fathers  no  longer 
impedes. 

Immigration. — What  the  future  holds  in  store  would 
be  hard  to  predict.  But  one  thing  is  certain — the  over- 
crowded nations  have  already  learned  that  there  is 
a  thinly  populated  domain  called  Latin  America.    Mul- 

173 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

hall,  the  English  statistician,  has  pointed  out  that  Brazil 
is  the  only  country  on  the  face  of  the  earth  with  enough 
arable  land  for  the  future  of  the  world. 

Whole  European  groups,  like  the  Waldensian  colony 
of  Uruguay,  will  occupy  this  unclaimed  territory  and 
bring  their  own  moral  atmosphere  with  them.  The 
Germans  and  Italians  have  already  demonstrated  in 
many  Latin  American  lands  what  potency  there  is  in 
energy  coupled  with  intelligence.  The  prejudices  of 
Latin  America  do  not  appeal  to  them.  British  and  Amer- 
ican residents  also  bring  with  them  more  or  less  of  evan- 
gelical tradition. 

Every  Christian  worker  is  grateful  for  help  received 
from  such  sources.  The  unbroken  sway  of  clericalism 
is  more  and  more  disturbed  by  the  wider  sweep  of  out- 
side influences  and,  on  the  whole,  the  changed  order 
rather  favors  the  spread  of  the  gospel. 

An  Era  of  Cooperation. — After  surveying  this  immense 
field  any  interested  observer  must  conclude  that  the 
undertaking  is  too  great  for  any  single  missionary  agency. 
Our  day  is  one  of  intelligent  coordination  of  Christian 
effort. 

Until  the  Panama  Congress  was  held,  there  had  never 
been  a  comprehensive  study  of  the  Latin  American 
fields  or  a  facing  of  the  problem  together.  A  Continua- 
tion Committee  was  named  and  it  will  serve  the  purpose 
of  a  central  advisory  board  for  all  evangehcal  agencies. 
There  is  no  future  peril  from  overlapping  territory. 
Missionary  economy  and  efficiency  will  be  procured  and 
the  fullest  light  shed  on  all  questions. 

Interdenominational  comity  has  made  wonderful 
advance  in  the  last  ten  years,  but,  with  a  central  body 
for  consultation  with  the  Church  at  home  and  abroad, 
unity  and  harmony  will  surely  result  and  large  plans 
will  be  projected. 

As  an  organization,  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  has 

174 


THE  CHRIST  OF  THE  ANDES 


This  colossal  bronze  statue  was  erected  on  the  mountain  ridge,  along- 
side the  old  international  road  between  Chile  and  Argentina.  It  symbolizes 
the  triumph  of  brotherhood  over  national  ambition  within  our  own  genera- 
tion. When  Argentina  and  Chile  settled  the  differences  over  their  boundary 
line  by  referring  the  whole  question  to  Queen  Victoria  for  arbitration,  this 
monument  was  built  by  public  subscription. 

The  pedestal  bears  this  inscription:  "Sooner  shall  these  mountains 
crumble  into  dust  than  Chilians  and  Argentines  break  the  peace  which,  at 
the  feet  of  Christ  the  Redeemer,  they  have  sworn  to  maintain."  It  faces 
due  north. 

In  spite  of  its  existence  both  Chile  and  Argentina  have  comparatively 
large  standing  armies.  Yet  it  is  a  proof  that  men  admit  the  real  fraternity 
established  by  the  death  of  Christ,  that  the  women  of  these  lands  are  capable 
of  providing  a  large  sum  for  a  worthy  purpose,  and  that  the  clergy  have 
great  influence  in  preventing  war. 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

not  yet  taken  achantage  of  the  opportunities  to  cooperate. 
Semper  eadetn  is  the  motto  of  that  exclusive  body, 
yet  she  has  modified  her  procedure  so  often  that  we  all 
know  she  is  not  "always  the  same." 

A  Distinctive  Type  of  Christian  Discipleship  to  Be 
Evolved  in  Latin  America. — The  Evangelical  Church 
that  must  eventually  be  adopted  by  Latin  Americans 
will  be  modihed  and  enriched  by  elements  from  the 
palpitating  life  of  those  lands.  Essentials  to  North 
Americans  often  appear  of  secondary  importance  to 
Latin  Americans.  Differences  that  have  arisen  out  of 
historical  situations  are  not  worth  perpetuating.  The 
keen  Latin  American  can  strip  nonessentials  from  the 
content  of  the  gospel.  He  will  preach  the  truth  with 
fiery  eloquence  for  it  kindles  all  his  powers.  We  of 
Anglo-Saxon  parentage  and  training  forget  that  oratory 
in  itself  is  not  to  be  despised.  North  American  pulpits 
may  be  suffering  from  the  lack  of  it  but  Latin  American 
pulpits  will  remind  one  of  Chrysostom. 

Central  authority  will  be  tempered  by  strong  individ- 
ualism; emphasis  on  certain  doctrines  will  be  shifted. 
Practical  and  sociaUzed  Christianity  will  be  the  end  in 
view. 

Calderon  suggests  that  a  strong  residuum  of  Roman 
Catholicism  will  always  mark  Latin  America's  life  and 
the  implication  seems  to  be  that  Protestantism  is  not 
adaptable  to  the  temperament  of  the  Latin  American. 
''If  the  American  democracies  are  to  acquire  a  practical 
spirit,  a  persistent  activity,  a  \drile  energy,  they  must 
do  so  without  renouncing  their  language,  their  religion 
and  their  history."*  But  the  logic  of  events  sustains  \ 
us  in  the  belief  that  evangehcal  Christianity  coalesces  I 
admirably  with  the  Latin  American  spirit.  It  is  the  faith 
of  democracies,  the  most  successful  generator  of  both 
a  practical  spirit  and  a  virile  energy. 

*  "Latin  America,"  p.  289. 

175 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  evangelical  church  of  Brazil  is  a  superdemocracy. 

It  will  be  a  long  time  before  the  Roman  Catholic  exter- 
nals are  sloughed  away,  but  the  propelling  force  of  Latin 
America's  religious  life  will  arise  from  evangelical  truth. 

"In  my  judgment,"  said  Judge  EmiHo  del  Toro  at 
Panama,  "the  beneficent  influence  wliich  Roman  Catholi- 
cism has  exercised  in  the  development  of  its  civilization 
would  have  been  greater  had  it  been  obliged  to  contend 
face  to  face  from  the  earliest  times  with  a  vigorous 
Protestant  movement."  As  they  stand  face  to  face 
to-day  we  note  that  the  expression  on  each  countenance 
grows  more  kindly. 

If  only  the  spirit  of  Jesus  might  control  all  men  who  seek 
his  glory  and  labor  together  for  the  salvation  of  men  and 
society,  the  vehicles  of  thought  and  the  modes  of  govern- 
ment would  take  care  of  themselves.  Neither  Protestant- 
ism nor  Roman  Cathohcism  has  exhausted  the  possibil- 
ities of  Christ's  boundless  life. 

A  Vision  of  Triumphant  Christianity  in  Latin  Amer- 
ica.— In  the  responsive,  generous  Latin  American  what 
gifts  and  offerings  for  Christ  lie  hidden!  He  pursues  his 
ideal  with  enthusiasm  until  a  stronger  appeal  reaches 
him  from  a  higher  ideal.  For  that  reason  there  has  been 
a  frequent  shifting  of  energy  on  account  of  a  change  in 
objective. 

When  the  supreme  ideal — the  unsurpassed  Christ — is 
presented  to  Latin  Americans,  there  is  anchorage  pro- 
vided for  their  best  effort. 

The  history  of  our  evangeUcal  movement  proves  this. 
Our  churches  are  filled  with  men  and  women  who  have 
been  transformed  by  the  "expulsive  power  of  a  new  affec- 
tion." They  become,  within  the  hmits  set  by  their  past, 
noble  exponents  of  the  Christian  faith.  The  multiph- 
cation  of  their  number  would  usher  in  a  new  moral  order. 

In  Mexico,  Brazil,  Uruguay,  Chile  and  Argentina, 
employers  have  dismissed  forever  their  prejudices  against 

176 


PAN-AM  F:R  I  CAN  BROTHEHflOOD  AND  SKRVICE 

Evangelicals.  For  positions  of  trust  they  are  now  the 
preferred  candidates. 

We  have  seen  hundreds  of  prodigals  who  became 
steady  wage  earners  and  faithful  stewards  of  their  sub- 
stance. With  the  increase  of  this  class  will  come  the  self- 
supporting  Latin  American  Church  and  higher  standards 
of  living  for  whole  communities. 

The  greatest  twentieth  century  victory  would  be  the 
awakening  of  the  indifferent,  for  which  so  many  Latin 
Americans  are  praying  each  day.  God  has  never  failed 
to  arouse  men  when  his  children  have  been  willing  to 
face  the  volcanoes  and  earthquakes  of  public  opinion 
and  social  persecution. 

Latin  America  has  had  campaigns  for  proselytes, 
festivals,  pilgrimages  and  spectacular  processions  galore, 
but  Latin  America  has  never  yet  wdtnessed  a  general 
outpouring  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  stirring  of  hearts 
and  wills  that  come  with  a  great  religious  awakening. 
Many  Latin  Americans  are  earnestly  beseeching  God 
for  such  a  heavenly  visitation. 

We  bespeak  the  cooperation  of  all  who  believe  that  the 
Father  will  heed  the  cry  of  entreaty. 

If  a  blind  man  evangelized  Tegucigalpa,  the  capital 
of  Honduras,  and  won  the  nucleus  of  the  first  Christian 
church  there,  what  ought  to  be  expected  of  men  and 
women  with  their  eyes  open? 

If  Francisco  Penzotti  has,  within  a  lifetime,  been 
permitted  to  see  fanatical  townsfolk  who  once  greeted 
him  with  hisses  and  curses  converted  into  evangelical 
groups,  his  own  son  raised  up  to  continue  the  gospel 
ministry  and  the  edict  of  tolerance  enacted  within  four- 
teen miles  of  his  former  prison  house,  can  we  not  prepare 
for  even  greater  transformations? 

If  in  fifty  years  the  gospel  has  penetrated  within  a 
continent  that  was  commonly  supposed  to  be  absolutely 
closed  is  not  this  very  fact  the  pledge  and  the  prophecy 
of  a  more  extensive  and  rapid  penetration  of  society? 

177 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Has  God  raised  up  a  Latin  American  ministry  for  naught? 
Is  the  energizing  Spirit  wliich  controlled  Moses,  Daniel 
and  Paul,  Luther,  Cahan  and  Wesley,  not  sufiicient  to 
make  modern  students  flaming  messengers  of  righteous- 
ness and  reconciliation? 

If  Latin  Americans  who  are  not  evangelical  standard- 
bearers,  believe  that  an  era  of  mighty  changes  is  before 
them,  how  much  more  ought  we  who  have  seen  the  good- 
ness and  power  of  the  Almighty  in  our  own  land. 

Again  let  Judge  Emilio  del  Toro  act  as  spokesman: 
*'As  I  think  upon  the  future  of  America,  I  see  it  always 
as  an  immense  democracy.  And  when  I  consider  the 
means  necessary  for  arriving  at  this  high  goal,  Chris- 
tianity furnishes  them  all." 

Ten  years  ago  the  Panama  Congress  of  Christian  Work 
in  Latin  America  would  have  been  regarded  as  a  chimer- 
ical dream  if  not  a  sheer  impossibility. 

Yet  it  is  only  the  earnest  of  greater  movements.  The 
Panama  Daily  Star  and  Herald,  in  an  editorial  dated 
February  26,  1916  stated:  "The  world  has  reached 
a  stage  in  its  progress  wherein  selfishness  and  dogma 
must  give  way  to  the  altruistic  ideals  of  the  brotherhood 
of  man,  if  any  impression  is  to  be  made  on  the  mass  of 
sin  and  ignorance  that  infests  it.  The  Church  should 
include  all  creeds  and  its  one  essential  should  be  a  belief 
in  the  divine  mission  of  its  great  Founder  and  a  firm  intent 
to  follow  in  his  footsteps." 

Let  us  look  on  Latin  America  with  eyes  that  have  been 
opened  by  the  touch  of  Christ  himself.  Then  shall  we 
see  the  vision  glorious. 

The  Summons. — "In  the  spiritual  poverty  of  Latin 
peoples  let  the  Church  read  her  call;  in  the  open  door 
inviting  entrance,  her  opportunity."  Bishop  L.  L.  Kin- 
solving,  of  Brazil.     He  continues: 

"Shall  Latin  America  be  left  a  spiritual  waste — arid, 
barren,  desolate — along   the   pathway  of  Christianity? 

178 


PAN-AMERICAX  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

Shall  these  vast  regions,  Cuba,  Brazil,  Argentina,  Mexico. 
Bolivia  and  Peru,  remain  to  stare  the  future  Church 
historian  in  the  face  as  witnesses  to  the  non-Catholicity 
of  Christianity?  Shall  we  confess  that  there  are  races 
on  this  earth  which  our  holy  religion  is  powerless  to  redeem 
and  this  while  she  is  reaching  out  a  helping  hand  to  our 
own  aborigines,  to  the  Hindus  of  India,  to  the  Mongols 
of  China  and  Japan?  Is  it  not  a  part  of  her  duty  to  see 
to  it  that  the  nations  who  are  Christian  in  name  shall 
be  also  Christian  in  fact  and  march  together  with  united 
strength  to  win  the  world  for  Christ  ?  "  (Address  at 
Panama) . 

The  genuine  Christian,  whose  entire  being  has  been 
transfigured  by  that  Ufe  hidden  with  Christ  in  God, 
thrills  and  throbs  w4th  a  passion  to  communicate  the 
best  of  God's  gifts  to  his  brethren  for  whom  Christ  died. 
Christianity  cannot  be  other  than  missionary.  As  we 
look  about,  within,  above,  we  see,  first  of  all,  an  exceed- 
ingly great  multitude  of  sinners  whose  only  Redeemer  is 
ours. 

Of  human  passions  like  ourselves,  they  pine  under  daily 
cares  and  sigh  for  deliverance.  The  half-articulate  sob 
of  burdened  hearts  is  heard  on  every  hand,  "O  Lord! 
how  long,  how  long!" 

Getting  Acquainted  With  Our  Neighbors. — Our  first 
duty  is  to  try  to  understand  them.  Latin  America  can 
never  be  saved  by  criticism  or  condemnation.  It  would 
be  unfair  to  judge  them  according  to  our  standards  or 
hold  them  responsible  for  our  opportunities.  We  can 
enter  into  their  daily  lives,  follow  their  struggles,  share 
their  doubts  and  fears,  and  turn  away  with  them  in  search 
of  soul-satisfaction.  There  is  a  deep  yearning  after 
truth,  beaut}-,  holiness  and  love  in  Latin  American 
hearts.  There  is  a  longing  after  full,  abundant  Ufe.  The 
tender  evangel  sounds  ineffably  gracious  and  compelUng 
to  the  overburdened  and  despairing. 

179 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

The  children  of  God  can  never  be  indifferent  to  what 
transpires  in  the  human  family.  Our  special  privileges 
and  blessings  may  tempt  us  to  imagine  we  are  favored, 
deserving  and  superior.  Forever  let  us  put  away  this 
illusion.  If  greater  boons  have  been  ours,  the  Lord  has 
conferred  them  with  a  view  to  making  us  grateful  to  him 
and  compassionate  with  others.  Deduct  what  God,  our 
ancestors  and  our  friends  have  done  for  us  and  how  much 
remains? 

Who  are  our  continental  neighbors?  What  manner 
of  men  and  women  are  they?  What  have  been  their 
vicissitudes?  Do  they  bear  the  mark  of  heaven?  Are 
they  our  potential  brethren  in  Christ? 

To  visit  them  in  their  affliction  is  the  swift  impulse 
of  a  quickened  love. 

To  tell  them  of  our  own  Deliverer  in  joyful  witness 
ought  to  be  our  delight. 

Prayer.— Intelligent  prayer  will  follow  acquaintance, 
prayer  for  all  Latin  Americans  and  especially  for  those 
who  labor  among  them,  proclaiming  the  living  Christ. 
John  EUot,  who  attempted  a  larger  task  than  most  men 
care  to  contemplate  with  soberness,  used  to  say:  "Prayer 
and  pains,  through  faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  will  do  any- 
thing." W^hat  the  Master  assured  his  disciples  on  his 
own  unimpeachable  authority,  John  Eliot  confirmed 
by  experience. 

The  amazing  fact  that  confronts  the  Christian  Church 
is  that  the  reach  of  intercession  for  Latin  America 
has  never  been  tried.  We  have  been  working  on  the 
circumference;  let  us  pray  from  the  center. 

Prayer  made  the  Panama  Congress  a  reality;  prayer 
controlled  and  directed  its  deliberations  as  no  earthly 
power  could  have  done. 

Unless  one  enter  the  vast  domain  of  Latin  America 
with  humble  petition,  he  cannot  help  or  be  helped. 

The  Uving  Christ  is  he  who  holds  daily  converse  with 

180 


PAN-AMERICAN  BROTHERHOOD  AND  SERVICE 

his  brethren  and  hears  their  appeals  for  others  who 
belong  to  another  fold,  but  are  under  the  care  of  the 
same  Shepherd. 

The  Latin  American  Christians  are  clamoring  to-day 
for  an  outpouring  of  the  Spirit.  The  urgency  of  their 
plea  induces  us  to  join  them. 

Gifts. — ^Latin  America  sorely  needs  our  financial  aid. 
Consecrated  money  wisely  invested  by  missionary 
trustees  has  proved  a  means  of  extending  the  knowledge 
of  Christ  this  world  around. 

Only  the  consciousness  that  the  Latin  American  Chris- 
tians of  our  time  are  unable  to  shoulder  heavy  pecuniary 
burdens  can  unlock  our  purses.  We  share  with  Latin 
Americans  "our  Father,"  "our  daily  bread,"  our  gos- 
pel, and  if  we  do  not  share  our  purses  for  the  work  of 
Jesus  we  cannot  justly  claim  to  be  their  brethren  or  sons 
of  a  common  Father. 

Apostleship. — The  living  Christ  is  most  readily  and 
easily  interpreted  through  the  hving  Christian.  The 
torch  of  spiritual  life  is  carried  from  hand  to  hand,  the 
evangel  from  lip  to  lip,  and  the  love  that  passe th  under- 
standing from  life  to  hfe. 

The  most  perilous,  difficult  and  intricate  mission  is 
that  of  an  ambassador  to  a  people  who  are  estranged  and 
hostile. 

To  represent  so  great  and  glorious  a  King  worthily 
is  assuredly  a  high  calling. 

But  the  minister  of  reconciliation  to  Latin  America 
has  to  adorn  the  doctrine  of  his  Master  if  he  is  to  succeed 
in  his  high  undertaking. 

"While  emphasizing  our  belief  that  the  work  of  a  mis- 
sionary demands  special  devotion,  special  gifts  and  special 
temperament,  it  is  our  abiding  conviction  that  because 
Latin  peoples  possess  an  historic  background  and  atmos- 
phere,  gentle  and  refined  manners,  and  are  uniquely 

181 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

susceptible  to  culture  and  the  graces  culture  brings,  the 
work  in  Latin  America  demands  as  missionaries  men  of 
broad  vision,  wide  culture  and  diplomatic  temperament. 
The  Latin  is  quick  to  discern  the  real  lack  in  his  rougher- 
mannered  brother  from  the  aggressive  North  or  elsewhere, 
and  quicker  to  resent  the  implied  suggestion  that  anything 
or  anybody  is  good  enough  for  them. 

"On  the  other  hand,  none  is  quicker  than  he  to  appre- 
ciate the  effort  of  sympathetic  students  of  Latin  Amer- 
ican customs,  traditions  and  manners.  A  Pauline  gift 
of  sympathy  as  well  as  a  Pauline  temper  of  adapta- 
bility seems  almost  a  prerequisite  to  success  in  Latin 
America."* 

Latin  America  calls  for  our  best.  Latin  America  calls 
for  men  and  women  filled  with  that  unquenchable  love 
which  is  the  breath  of  the  living  Christ. 


*  Finding  3   in   Report  of  Commission   II,  Panama  Congress  on   Christian 
Work. 


182 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX  A 


Ancient  Temples  and  Cities  of  the  New  World.  A  series  in 
the  "Bulletin  of  the  Pan-American  Union,"  December,  1910; 
January,  March,  April,  May,  September,  1911;  March,  April 
and  August,  1912;  October,  1913,  and  March,  1914.^ 

Baldwin,  John  D.  :  Ancient  America,  in  notes  on  American  Archae- 
ology.   New  York,  Harper  &  Bros.,  1872.    $2.00. 

BowDiTCH,  Charles  P.:  Mexican  and  Central  American  Antiqui- 
ties, Calendar  System  and  History.  Washington,  Bureau  of 
American  Ethnology,  1904. 

Charnay,  DfesiRE:  The  Ancient  Cities  of  the  New  World.  Being 
Travels  and  Explorations  in  Mexico  and  Central  America. 
London,  Chapman  &  Hall,  1887.     $6.00. 

Church,  George  E.  :  Aborigines  of  South  America.  London,  Chap- 
man &  Hall,  1912.    10  shillings  6  pence. 

Holmes,  Wm.  H.:  Archaeological  Studies  among  the  Ancient 
Cities  of  Mexico.     Chicago,   Field  Columbian  Museum,    1897. 

Holmes,  Wm.  H.:  Masterpieces  of  Aboriginal  American  Art.  Part 
I:  Stucco  Work.  Part  H:  Mosaic  Work,  Minor  examples, 
Art  and  Archaeology.     Washington,  July  and  November,  1914. 

Hrdlicka,  Ales:  Early  Man  in  South  America.  Washington, 
Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  1912. 

Markham,  Clements:  The  Incas  of  Peru.  New  York,  E.  P.  Button 
and  Company,  1910.    $3.00. 


183 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 


APPENDIX  B 


The  student  who  wishes  to  make  a  more  exhaustive  study  of  this 
period  will  find  the  following  books  valuable: 
Akers,  Charles  E.:     A  History  of  South  America,  1904.     E.  P. 

Button  and  Company.    $4.00 
Child,  Theodore:   The  Spanish- American  Republics,  1891.    Harper 

&  Brothers.     $3.50 
Moses,  Bernard:     South  America  on  the  Eve  of  Emancipation, 

1908.    G.  P.  Putman's  Sons,    $1.50  net. 


184 


APPENDIX 
APPENDIX  C 


I  was  born  in  England  in  1864.  At  an  early  age  I  received  from 
God,  I  believe,  the  call  to  go  to  the  Indians.  I  lived  with  that  ideal 
before  me  for  years. 

I  left  England  for  United  States  of  America  in  1884;  was  always 
interested  in  Mission  work,  at  home  and  abroad.  Not  until  1897  did 
I  leave  for  my  first  foreign  mission  field, «'.  e.,  the  British  West  Indies. 
I  spent  several  years  there  in  the  different  islands. 

In  1910 1  came  to  the  Isthmus  and  heard  from  the  lips  of  a  Metho- 
dist minister  of  the  Gospel  that  an  Indian  Chief  had  visited  his  house, 
and  asked  for  a  lady  teacher.  His  wife  said :  "The  plea  was  so  touch- 
ing that  if  she  had  not  had  a  small  family  to  attend  to  she  would 
have  gone  herself."  I  at  once  prepared  to  find  out  how  to  get  there, 
and  obtained  a  passage  on  a  small  gasoline  launch. 

The  Roman  Catholic  priests  had  built  two  houses  on  two  of  the 
Islands  that  I  had  of  necessity  to  pass.  On  board  the  launch  was 
one  of  the  priest's  assistants,  and  he  was  much  enraged  when  he 
learned  that  I  was  going  to  teach  the  Bible  in  one  of  the  Islands 
that  they  had  not  entered,  and  on  arriving  at  his  destination  he  sent 
two  Indians,  each  armed  with  a  rifle,  to  go  on  the  launch  and  warn 
the  people  not  to  let  me  in. 

VVhen  the  launch  arrived  at  the  Island,  "Mona"  so  called,  the 
Indians  quickly  got  ashore  and  calling  up  all  the  inhabitants  told 
them  what  the  priest  had  said.  In  the  meantime  I  met  the  man  who 
had  made  the  plea  for  a  lady  teacher,  and  found  out  he  was  not  the 
Chief,  having  been  rejected  because  he  wanted  an  English  school. 
However,  he  greeted  me  kindly  and  introduced  me  to  the  Chief, 
a  very  fine  man  indeed  (now  one  of  my  best  friends).  As  we  stood 
talking  together,  the  Chief  and  I,  we  were  suddenly  interrupted  by  the 
request  to  come,  and  on  entering  a  large  native  hut,  found  it  filled 
with  people  eager  to  see  and  hear  the  pale  face.  There  was  perfect 
stillness  while  I  spoke  to  the  ex-Chief.  He  then  interpreted  for  me, 
but  in  a  few  seconds  there  was  a  great  hubbub,  the  two  Indians 
with  the  rifles  jumping  to  their  feet  and  crying  "Polear" — every 
voice  took  up  the  yell.  I  could  not  describe  it.  After  they  quieted 
a  little  the  ex-Chief  said  the  priest  had  said,  "I  was  a  bad  woman 
I  had  no  religion — they  must  not  let  me  stay."  There  was  a  divi- 
sion: some  wanted  me  to  stay,  but  on  account  of  these  two  men  who 
were  terribly  excited,  they  had  to  decide  at  once.  So  the  ex-Chief 
said:  "Miss  Coope,  I  am  very  sorry  but  I  think  you  had  better  go 
at  once — I  fear  they  will  shoot  you."  But  before  we  could  say  another 
word,  one  of  the  two  men  suddenly  grabbed  me  by  the  right  wrist 
and  pulled  me  roughly  from  my  seat.  And  of  course  I  had  to  go  then. 
They  led  me  to  the  canoe,  thence  to  the  launch  at  the  point  of  the 
rifle,  and  bade  me  "nyah" — go. 

On  my  voyage  back  to  Colon,  as  we  passed  the  Island  where  the 
priest  or  priests  lived,  the  leader  came  on  board  and  told  me  I  was 

185 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

a  bad  woman  and  had  no  true  faith.  I  did  not  eat  the  body  or  drink 
the  blood  of  Jesus — therefore  I  was  not  right.  I  had  no  business 
to  come  to  these  parts;  that  they  had  come  to  educate  the  people 
and  teach  them  the  Christian  religion.  I  said  I  had  come  to  teach 
them  God's  word,  the  Bible — they  were  deceiving  the  people  and 
teaching  the  doctrine  of  men  instead  of  the  Word  of  God.  He  acted 
very  restless,  but  this  was  my  opportunity  to  give  him  the  Gospel 
light,  and  I  told  him  if  he  would  read  the  Bible,  believe  and  obey 
it,  that  he  could  be  saved  by  faith  in  Jesus  only,  and  not  through 
any  creed  or  Church;  that  instead  of  helping  the  people  he  was 
deceiving  them,  adding,  "You  have  done  your  best  to  get  me  from 
these  parts,  but  I  believe  God  will  let  me  come  back  again,  and  that 
I  would  be  in  some  day,  teaching  the  Bible,  and  he  would  be  out. 
(Praise  God  it  has  come  to  pass!  and  for  three  years  those  Indians 
have  had  the  Word  of  God  taught  to  them). 

Eighteen  months  after  that,  I  was  in,  and  he  was  out.  I  remained 
in  Colon  for  a  while,  got  acquainted  with  some  of  the  Indians  working 
in  Colon,  and  through  them  I  learned  of  Chief  Charles  J.  Robinson 
who  could  read,  write  and  speak  English  well.  I  therefore  met  him, 
and  he  quickly  offered  me  admittance  to  his  Island.  He  sent  three 
men  to  bring  me  up  in  a  small  canoe,  but  many  of  the  seamen  per- 
suaded them  not  to  take  me  in  so  small  a  canoe  for  over  one  hundred 
miles.  So  I  waited  two  weeks  more,  and  went  by  the  first  outgoing 
schooner. 

The  Indians  received  me  kindly,  and  while  there  I  was  a  curiosity — 
the  first  white  lady  who  had  come  to  stay  on  their  Island,  live  with 
them,  and  teach  them.  I  can  tell  you  it  was  a  nine  days'  wonder. 
I  felt  at  home  with  them.  I  landed  in  Rio  Diablo — that  is  the  name 
the  Panamanians  have  given  that  river  and  village  on  island  near 
the  river.  The  Islands  are  named  by  groups,  according  to  some 
Indian  idea.  So  that  Rio  Diablo  is  called  "Nargana,"  meaning 
"a  place  of  bamboos."  I  arrived  there  on  Friday,  February  twenty- 
eighth,  1913,  and  began  school  next  day.  For  three  months  I  taught 
three  times  a  day,  seven  daj's  in  the  week.  So  eager  were  they  that 
I  was  not  expected  to  eat.  They  kept  me  busy  day  and  night.  I 
lived  in  a  native  hut  for  seven  months.  Now  I  am  living  in  the  very 
house  the  priests  built,  assisted  by  the  Indians.  I  have  a  large 
school  of  one  hundred  and  seven  enrolled,  forty  girls  included. 

At  first  the  old  women  objected  to  the  girls'  coming,  but  after 
many  meetings  and  talks  by  the  Chief,  they  finally  yielded,  and  now 
the  girls  are  striving  to  gain  over  the  boys.  Many  of  the  Chiefs  from 
other  Islands  and  the  mountains  visit  our  school,  some  bringing 
their  sons  to  get  an  English  education. 

Before  I  left  Colon  in  1913,  I  called  on  President  Porras.  He 
advised  me  not  to  go  to  the  Indians  as  they  were  so  bad:  he  was 
afraid  they  would  kill  me.  I  told  him  I  was  not  afraid.  I  believed 
God  wanted  me  to  go  to  give  them  the  Word  of  God  and  to  teach 
them  of  Jesus,  who  saves  to  the  uttermost.  He  said  it  was  very  dan- 
gerous, and  that  he  would  be  afraid  to  risk  his  neck.  But  listen! 
he  has  risked  his  neck,  for  in  1915  he  visited  all  the  Islands,  surpris- 

186 


APPENDIX 

ing  me  very  much  one  day  by  knocking  at  my  door,  and  was  glad 
to  see  me  and  to  hear  of  the  progress  of  the  school. 

When  I  landed  in  Nargana  there  were  ten  saloons.  Now  there  is 
not  one.  The  streets  were  so  narrow  we  had  to  walk  single  file 
with  bowed  heads.    Now  we  can  walk  erect  and  twelve  abreast. 

The  Chief  and  one  of  his  men  have  accepted  Jesus  as  their  Saviour, 
and  assist  me  greatly  in  spreading  the  Gospel  by  word  of  mouth, 
as  they  visit  the  different  Islands  and  the  mountain  regions.  The 
girls  marry  very  young,  about  thirteen  or  fourteen.  I  have  twelve 
married  girls  in  my  school.  The  Bible,  or  New  Testament  at  first,  is 
my  chief  book.  I  have  several  young  married  men  also  who  are  eager 
to  learn  English.  The  ex-Chief  died  lately,  but  before  he  died  he  often 
sent  word  to  me  that  he  was  sorry  that  they  had  not  let  me  stay,  the 
Chief  saying  the  same.  The  ex-Chief  visited  me  once  only,  and  saw 
the  progress  of  the  school,  and  expressed  his  sorrow  and  regret  that 
they  had  lost  the  opportunities  that  this  people  were  receiving. 

Over  a  year  ago  a  lady  came  to  my  assistance.  She  is  a  member 
of  the  same  church.  We  opened  up  a  school  on  the  next  Island, 
not  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  my  first  station.  She  has  forty  pupils, 
and  the  Word  of  God  is  being  preached  there.  Thus  we  occupy 
the  two  houses  built  by  the  priests,  and  they  are  Bible  schools.  The 
agreement  was,  if  they  left  the  houses,  the  Indians  could  possess 
them  in  pay  for  their  labour  and  logs  contributed. 

Pray  for  the  Indians  so  near  our  American  territory,  that  for  ages 
have  not  had  the  Gospel  until  lately. 

Yours  in  His  service, 

(Signed)  Annie  Coope, 

Box  373,  Cristobal,  P.  O. 
Canal  Zone. 


187 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 
APPENDIX  D 


The  following  is  the  complete  list  of  mission  stations  and  mission- 
aries in  Latin  America  supported  by  the  Presbyterian  Church  in 
the  United  States  of  America,  on  the  date  in  which  this  textbook 
goes  to  press,  April  first,   1916. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  U.  S.  A. 

I.  MEXICO 

The  work  is  in  process  of  readjustment  by  the  Mexico  Mission. 
New  assignment  of  duties  of  missionaries  has  not  yet  been  made. 
Mexico  City — 1872.  (Including  Coyoacan  and  San  Angel) 

Miss  Jennie  Wheeler  (1888), 

Rev.  Wm.  Wallace,  D.D.  (1890),  Mrs.  Wallace  (1894). 

Rev.  Charles  Petran  (1900),  Mrs.  Petran  (1902). 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Newell  J.  Elliott  (1907). 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Raymond  R.  Gregory  (1911). 
Aguascalientes — 1885. 

Miss  Mary  Turner  (1898). 

Miss  Kate  M.  Spencer  (1899). 
Merida- Yucatan — 1915. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  E.  Vanderbilt  (1896). 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  T.  J.  Molloy  (1902). 

Professor  Robert  A,  Brown  (1903),  Mrs.  Brown  (1909). 

Miss  Blanche  B.  Bonine  (1911). 

Miss  Jessie  R.  Bergens  (1915). 
Jalapa,  State  of  Vera  Cruz — 1897. 

Rev.  Harry  A.  Phillips  (1911). 

II.  GUATEMALA 

Guatemala  City — 1882. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  W.  B.  Allison  (1903).  Evangelistic  work  of 
station;  Girls'  Boarding  School;  dispensary  work. 

Miss  Mary  E.  Gregg,  M.  D.  (1906).  Dispensary;  medical 
visitation;  work  in  church. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Linn  Perry  Sullenberger  (1911).  Evangelistic 
work. 

Miss  Henrietta  S.  York  (1913).    Trained  nurse. 

Miss  Laura  Eleanor  Morrison  (1915).    Teacher  in  Girls'  School. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Elmer  E.  Freed  (1915).  Evangelistic  and  educa- 
tional work. 

QUEZALTENANGO — 1898. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Paul  Burgess  (1913).  Evangelistic  work  of 
station. 

188 


APPENDIX 

III.  VENEZUELA 

Caracas— 1897. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  T.  S.  Pond  (Syria,  1873-1890;  Venezuela,  1897). 

Evangelistic  and  school  work. 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  Frederic  F.  Darley  (1912).     Evangelistic  work. 

IV.  COLOMBIA 

BogotA— 1856. 

Miss  Leila  W.  Quinby  (1907).  Principal  of  Girls'  Boarding 
School. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  M.  Allan  (1910).     Evangelistic  work. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  E.  Warren  (1910),  Charge  of  Boys' 
Boarding  School. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Edward  C.  Austin  (1915).  Educational  work. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Cover  C.  Birtchet    (1916).     Evangelistic   work. 

Miss  Christine  V.  Hoogestraat  (1916).    Teacher  in  Girls'  Board- 
ing School. 
Barranquilla — 1888. 

Rev.  T.  H.  Candor  (1882),  Mrs.  Candor  (1880).  Evangelistic 
work. 

Miss  Martha  B.  Hunter  (1892).  Principal  of  Girls'  Boarding 
School. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Walter  Scott  Lee  (1898).  Evangelistic  work; 
inquirers'  class. 

Miss  Jane  R.  Morrow  (1915).  Teacher  in  Girls'  Boarding  School. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  CliflFord  A.  Douglass  (1915).    Evangelistic  work. 
Medellin — Reopened  1911. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  E.  Barber  (1910).    Evangelistic  work. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  H.  Cruickshank  (1911).    Educational  work. 

BUCARAMANGA — 1911. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Charles  S.  Williams  (1907).     Evangelistic  and 
educational  work. 
Cerete— 1912. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  John  L.  Jarrett  (1913) .  Charge  of  work  of  station. 

V.  CHILE 

Valparaiso — 1874. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  C.  M.  Spining  (1895).  General  Station  work; 
charge  of  churches  and  chapels;  theological  instruction. 

Miss  Florence  E.  Smith  (1903).  VVork  among  women  through- 
out the  country. 

Miss  M.  A.  Beatty  (1912).  Principal  of  "Central  Escuela 
Popular." 

Miss  Cora  B.  Beatty  (1913).    Teacher. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Robert  Bartlett  Elmore'(1908),  Superintendent 
of  the  educational  work  of  station;  oversight  of  "Escuelas 
Populares." 

189 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN"  AMERICA 

Santiago — 1874. 

Rev.  W.  H.  Lester,  D.  D.  (1882),  Mrs.  Lester  (1887).  Pastor 
of  Union  Church. 

Rev.  W.  E.  Browning,  Ph.  D.,  D.D.,  Mrs.  Browning  (1896). 
Principal  of  "Instituto  Ingles,"  Boys'  Boarding  and  Day 
School,  with  about  twenty  instructors;  Associate  Editor  of 
El  Heraldo  Evangelico. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  James  H.  McLean  (1906).  Superintendent  of 
station;  Editor  of  El  Heraldo  Evangelico,  the  weekly  publi- 
cation of  the  Presbytery  of  Chile;  Instructor  in  National 
Institute  of  Pedagogy;  work  for  women. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Wm.  B.  Boomer  (1887).    Charge  of  Theological 
Seminary. 
Copiap6 — 1874. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Jesse  S.  Smith  (1903).    Charge  of  Copiapo  sta- 
tion; itineration. 
Concepci6n — 1878. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  James  F.  Garvin  (1884).      Charge  of   station; 
itineration;  theological  instruction;  work  among  women. 
CuRico.— 1914. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  David  R.  Edwards  (1913).  Charge  of  station; 
itineration;  work  among  women. 

VI.  BRAZIL 

SAo  Paulo— 1863. 

MAckenzie  College  and  its  Faculty. 

Rev.  W.  A.  Waddell,  D.  D.  (1890),  President  of  College,  Mrs. 
Waddell  (1893). 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  T.  Colman.    Members  of  College  Staff. 
CuRlTYBA,  State  of  Parand — 1886. 

Miss  Ella  Kuhl  (1874),  Miss  Mary  P.  Dascomb  (1869).  Ameri- 
can School,  Girls  and  Boys. 

Mrs.  Wm.  H.  Hallock  (1914).  Principal  of  American  School. 
Also  two  short  term  teachers. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Chas.  A.  Carriel  (1911).   City  evangelistic  work; 
Mission  Treasurer. 
Castro,  State  of  ParanA — 1895. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  G.  L.  Bickerstaph  (1894).  Care  of  several 
churches;  general  station  work;  itinerating. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harry  P.  Midkiff  (1911).     Principal  of  Boys' 
Industrial  School. 
Caaipinas,  State  of  Sao  Paulo — 1869, 

Rev.  Thomas  J.  Porter,  Ph.  D.,  and  Mrs.  Porter  (Persia,  1884; 
Brazil  1907).    Professor  in  Theological  Seminary  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  in  Brazil;  charge  of  evangelistic  work  in 
City  of  Sao  Paulo. 
Pont  A  Gross  a — Parand. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  George  A.  Landes  (1880).  Local  and  itinerate 
evangelistic  work. 

190 


■ .  I5;..i  JiJUL I'Ji.  J  L  J  .,UiU,  111  .ggaaBBBSWl'iJL,'  liLJ  jimitL  ■• 


APPENDIX 

Rev.  and  Mrs,  R.  F.  Lenington    (1896).      Evangelistic    work 
in  city  and  state. 
Lajas,  State  of  Santa  Catharina — 1898. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Ashmun  C.  Salley  (1910).    Extensive  evangelistic 
work. 
GuARAPUAVA,  ParanA. 

Rev.  J.  B.  Kolb  (1884),  Mrs.  Kolb  (1883).    Evangelistic  work. 
PoNTE  Nova,  State  of  Bahia.    P.  O.  Address:    Lencoes. 

Rev.  C.  E.  Bixler  (1896),  Mrs.  Bixler  (1899).     Principal  of 
Ponte  Nova  High  School;  itinerating  in  the  interior;   direc- 
tor of  schools. 
Miss  Carrie  L.  Jayne  (1913).    Educational  work. 
Villa  Bella  Das  Umburanas,  State  of  Bahia,  Brazil. 

Miss  E.  R.  Williamson  (1890).    School  and  evangelistic  work. 
CiDADE  Do  BoMFiM,  State  of  Bahia. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Alexander  Reese  (1909).    Evangelistic  work. 
Rev.  and  Mrs.  Albert  F.  McClements  (1914). 
Caetete  E.  De  Bahia. 

Rev.Henry  J.  McCall  (1902),  Mrs.  McCall  (1899).    Evangel- 
istic work. 
Rev.  Franklin  F.  Graham   (1910).     Exclusively  in  extensive 
itineration. 

ESTANCIA  vSEIGIPE. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Harold  C.  Anderson  (1910).    Evangelistic  work. 
CuYABA,  State  of  Matto  Grosso. 

Rev.  Philip  S.  Landes  (1912),  Mrs.  Landes  (1915).    Evangelistic 
work. 
Bahia  City. 

Rev.  and  Mrs.  Edgar  C.  Short.     Language  study  and  Mission 
Treasurer. 


The  following  is  the  complete  list  of  mission  stations  and  mis- 
sionaries in  Latin  America  supported  by  the  Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  United  States  on  the  date  on  which  this  textbook  goes  to  press, 
April  first,  1916. 

PRESBYTERIAN  CHURCH,  UNITED  STATES 
I.  BRAZIL 

Lavras,  State  of  Minas  Geraes — 1893. 

Miss  Charlotte  Kemper  (1882).     Principal  Charlotte  Kemper 

Seminary. 
Rev.  S.  R.  Gammon  (1889).  Principal  of  Instituto  Evangelico. 

Mrs.  S.  R.  Gammon  (1909). 
Rev.  H.  S.  Allyn,  M.  D.,  and  Mrs.  Allyn  (1896).    Evangelistic 

work. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  C.  Knight  (1909).     Instituto  Evangelico. 
Mr.  B.  H.  Hunnicutt  (1910),    Mrs.   Hunnicutt  (1916).     Insti- 

tuto  Evangelico,  Agricultural  Department. 

191 


THE  LIMNG  CHRIST  FOR  LAIIX  AMERICA 

Miss  R.  Caroline  Kiigore  (1912).    Teacher  Charlotte  Kemper 

Seminars'. 
Mr.  F.  F.  Baker  (1913),  Mrs.  Baker  (1916).     Instituto   Evan- 
gelico. 
PiUMHY,  State  of  Minas  Geraes — 1896. 

Mrs.  Kate  B.  Cowan  (1888).    Evangelistic  work. 
Bom  Successo,  State  of  Minas  Geraes — 1912. 

Miss  Ruth  See  (1900).    Girls'  Boarding  and  Day  School. 
Mrs.  D.  G.  Armstrong  (1908).    Girls'  Boarding  and  Day  School. 
Ytu,  State  of  Sao  Paulo— 1909. 

Rev,  and  Mrs.  J.  P.  Smith  (1909).    Evangelistic  work. 
Br.\ganza,  State  of  Sao  Paulo— 1909. 

Rev.  Gaston  Boyle  (1908),  Mrs.  Boyle   (1909).       Evangelistic 
work. 
C.\MPINAS,  State  of  Sao  Paulo — 1869. 

Rev.  J.  R.  Smith  (1872).     Professor  in  Theological  Seminary. 
Mrs.  Smith  (1872). 
Itapetininga,  State  of  Sao  Paulo — 1912. 

Rev.  R.  D.  Daffin  (1905),  Mrs.  Daffin  (1900).  Evangelistic  work. 
Descalvado,  State  of  Sao  Paulo — 1908. 

Rev.  Alva  Hardie  (1900),  Mrs.  Hardie  (1902).     Evangelistic 
work. 
Garanhuns,  State  of  Pernambuco — 1895. 

Rev.  and    Mrs.   G.    E.    Henderlite    (1893).     Theological   and 

evangelistic. 
Rev.   and    Mrs.  W.  M.  Thompson    (1890).     Theological  and 

evangelistic. 
Miss  Eliza  M.  Reed  (1891).    Educational  and  evangelistic. 
Pernambuco,  State  of  Pernambuco — 1873. 

Miss   Margaret    Douglas    (1906).     Girls'    Boarding  and   Day 

School. 
Miss  Edmonia  R.  Martin  (1912).     Girls'  Boarding  and  Day 

School. 
Rev.  W.  C.  Porter  (1884),  Mrs.  Porter   (1891).     Evangelistic 
work. 
Canhotinho,  State  of  Pernambuco — 1895. 

Dr.  G.  W.  Butler  (1882),  Mrs.  Butler  (1884).     Medical  and 
evangelistic  work. 


192 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


Adams,  William  Henry  Davenport:  Land  of  the  Incas  and  the 
City  of  the  Sun.     Estes.     $L00. 

AuGHiNBAUGH,  W.  E. :  Selling  Latin  America.  Written  from  the 
viewpoint  of  commercial  traveler.  Small,  Maynard,  1914. 
$2.00. 

Babson,  Roger  W.:  Future  of  South  America:  commercial  view- 
point.    Little,  Brown,  1915.     $2.00  net. 

Bancroft,  Hubert  Howe:  History  of  Mexico.  The  Bancroft 
Co.,  1914.     $2.00. 

Barrett,  John:   Colombia,  a  Land  of  Great  Possibilities. 

Barrett,  John:  The  Northern  Republics  of  South  America;  Ecua- 
dor, Colombia  and  Venezuela.     1909. 

Bingham,    Hiram:     Across    South    America.     Houghton,     1911. 

$3.50. 

Blakeslee,  George  H.,  Editor:  Latin  America:  Clark  university 
addresses.     Stechert,    1913,    1914.     $2.50. 

Brandon,  Edgar  Ewing:  Higher  Education  in  Latin  America. 
Journal  of  Race  Development.     Worcester,  Mass.,  July,  1914. 

*Brown,  Hubert  W.:    Latin  America.     Revell,  1901.     $1.20  net. 

Browne,  Edith  A. :  South  America.  (Peeps  at  Many  Lands  Series.) 
Macmillan,  1909.     55  cents. 

Bryce,  James:  South  America:  observations  and  impressions. 
MapmiUan,  1912.     $2.50. 

Butler,  Sara  Aston:  Historic  Churches  in  Mexico.  Abingdon 
Press,  1915.     $1.50. 

Butterworth,  Hezekiah:  South  America,  a  Popular  Illustrated 
History  of  the  Struggle  for  Liberty  in  the  Andean  Republics 
and  Cuba.     Doubleday,   1904.     $1.00.     Out  of  print. 

Butterworth,  Hezekiah:  South  America  and  Panama.  Double- 
day,  1904.     $1.00. 

Calderon  de  la  Barca,  Frances  Inglis:  Life  in  Mexico.  Dutton, 
1913.     35  cents. 

Calder6n,  F.  Garcia:  Latin  America:  its  rise  and  progress. 
Scribner,  1913.     $3.00. 

*Clark,  Francis  E.:  The  Continent  of  Opportunity.  Revell, 
1907.     $1.50. 

*See  note  on  bottom  of  page  196. 

193 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Clemenceau,  Georges  E.  B.  :  South  America  To-Day.  Putnam, 
1911.     $2.00. 

Currier,  Charles  Warren:  The  Lands  of  the  Southern  Cross. 
Spanish-American  PubHcation  Society,   1911.     $1.50. 

D^VNfiELS,  Margarette:  Makers  of  South  America.  Missionary 
Education  Movement,  1916.  Cloth,  60  cents.  Paper,  40 
cents. 

Darwin,  Charles:  A  Naturalist's  Voyage  in  the  H.  M.  S.  "Beagle." 
Dutton.     50  cents. 

*Dawson,  Thomas  C:  The  South  American  Republics.     1903-04. 
Putnam,  2  v.     $2.95. 

DoMViLLE-FiFE,  Charles  W.  :  Guatemala  and  the  States  of  Cen- 
tral America.     James  Pott  &  Co.,  1913.     $3.00. 

Eder,  Phanor  James:    Colombia.     Scribner,  1913.     $3.00. 

Elliot,  G.  F.  Scott:    Chile.     Scribner,  1907.     $3.00. 

Enock,  C.  Reginald:  The  Republics  of  Central  and  South  America: 
their  resources,  industry,  sociology  and  future.  Scribner,  1913. 
$3.00. 

Fenn,  R.  W.:  Horacio:  a  tale  of  Brazil.  American  Tract  Society. 
$1.00. 

Ferris,  Anita  B.:  Land  of  the  Golden  Man.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  1916.     Cloth,  50  cents.     Paper,  30  cents. 

Flandrau,  Charles  Macomb:  Viva  Mexico!  Appleton,  1908. 
$1.25. 

Fornaro,  Carlo  de:  Carranza  and  Mexico.  Kennerley,  1915. 
$1.25  net. 

Franck,  Harry  A.:  Tramping  Through  Mexico,  Guatemala  and 
Honduras.     Century,  1916.     $2.00. 

Gammon,  Samuel  R.:  The  Evangelical  Invasion  of  Brazil.  Pres- 
byterian Committee  of  Publication,  Richmond,  Va.,  1910. 
75  cents. 

Grubb,  W.  Barbrooke:  A  Church  in  the  Wilds.  Dutton,  1914. 
$1.50  net. 

Grubb,  W.  Barbrooke:  Among  the  Indians  of  the  Paraguayan 
Chaco.     South  American  Missionary  Society,  1904.     Is.  6d. 

Grubb,  W.  Barbrooke:  An  Unknown  People  in  an  Unknown 
Land.     Lippincott,  1911.     $3.50. 

*Hale,  Albert  B.:  The  South  Americans.     Bobbs,  Merrill,  1907. 

$2.50. 

♦See  note  on  bottom  of  page  196. 

194 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Halsey,  Abram  Woodruff  and  Trull,  G.  H.:  Panama  to  Parand. 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbjterian  Church,  U.  S. 

A.,  1916.     10  cents. 
Hammerton,  J.  R.:  The  Real  Argentine.     Dodd,  1914.     $2.50. 
Hodge,  Katherine  A.:   Children  of  South  America.     Revell,  1916. 

60  cents. 
KoEBEL,  W.  H.:  South  Americans.     Dodd,  1915.     $3.00. 
Lange,  Algot:    The  Lower  Amazon.     Putnam,  1914.     $2.50  net. 

Lee,  John:   Religious  Liberty  in  South  America.     Eaton  &  Mains, 

1907.     $1.25. 
LuMHOLTZ,  Carl  S. :   New  Trails  in  Mexico.    Scribner,  1912.   $5.00. 
LuMHOLTZ,    Carl  S.  :    Unknown    Mexico.      Scribner,    2   v.,  1902. 

$12.00. 
MacHugh,  R.  J.:  Modern  Mexico.     Dodd,  Mead,  1914.     $3.50  net. 
Neeley,  Thomas  B.:    South   America:    its  missionary  problems. 

Missionary    Education    Movement,    1909.     Cloth,    60    cents. 

Paper,  40  cents. 

O'Shaughnessy,  Edith  L.  :  A  Diplomat's  Wife  in  Mexico.   Written 
from  the  Catholic  standpoint.     Harper,  1916.     $2.00  net. 

Palmer,  Frederick:    Central  America  and  its  Problems.     Moffat, 
Yard,  1910.     $2.50. 

Panama  Congress  for   Christian   Work  in   Latin  America: 
Panama,  February  10-20,  1916. 

1.  Three  volumes,  containing  the  reports  in  full  of  the  eight 

commissions  with  discussions.     $2.50,  carriage  extra. 

2.  Report  of  Regional  Conferences,  one  volume.    $1.00  prepaid. 

3.  Popular  History  and  Report  of  the  Congress,  in  English,  by 

Professor  Harlan  P.  Beach,  of  Yale  University.     $1.00 
prepaid. 

*Pepper,  Charles  M.:    Panama  to  Patagonia.     McClurg,  1906. 
$2.50. 

Prescott,  William  H.:    Conquest  of  Peru.     Can  be  obtained  at 
various  prices  in  one  and  two  volumes.     Dutton. 

Reid,  William  A.:  The  Young  Man's  Chances  in  South  and  Central 
America.     Washington,  1914.     $1.00. 

Ross,  Edward  A.:  South  of  Panama.     Centur>%  1915.     $2.40. 

Rolxet,  Mary  F.  Nixon:    Our  Little  Brazilian  Cousin.      Page, 
1907.     60  cents. 

Ruhl,  Arthur  B. :   The  Other  Americans.     Scribner,  1908.     $2.00. 

Savage-Landor,   a.    Henry*:    Across   Unknown   South   America. 
Little,  Brown,  1913,  2  v.     $10.00. 


*See  note  on  bottom  of  page  196. 

195 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 

Scruggs,  William  L.:  Colombian  and  Venezuelan  Republics. 
Little,  Brown,  1905.     $1.75. 

Shepherd,  William  R.:  Latin  America.     Holt,  1914,     50  cents. 

Sherrill,  Charles  H.:  Modernizing  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 
Houghton,  1916.     $1.25. 

Smith,  Randolph  Wellford:  Benighted  Mexico.  Lane,  1916.  $1.50. 

Speer,  Robert  E.:  South  American  Problems.  Student  Volunteer 
Movement,  1912.     Cloth,  75  cents.     Paper,  50  cents. 

Speer,  Robert  E.:  The  Unity  of  the  Americas.  Missionary  Edu- 
cation Movement,  1916.     25  cents. 

Spiritual  Victories  in  Latin  America,  Autobiography  of  the 
Life  of  Francisco  Penzotti.  American  Bible  Society,  1916. 
3  cents. 

Stuntz,  Homer  C:  South  American  Neighbors.  Missionary 
Education  Movement,  1916.  Cloth,  60  cents.  Paper,  40 
cents. 

Wallace,  Lew:  Fair  God.    A  novel.    Grosset,  1908.  75  cents. 

Winter,  Nevin  O.:  Guatemala  and  Her  People  of  To- Day.  Page, 
1909.     $3.00. 

WiNTON,  George  B.:  Mexico  To- Day.  Missionary  Education 
Movement,  1913.     Cloth,  60  cents.     Paper,  40  cents. 

Zahm,  J.  A.:  "Following  the  Conquistadores"  series. 

Up  the  Orinoco  and    Down  the  Magdalena,  v.  I.     Appleton, 

1910.  $3.00. 

Along  the  Andes  and   Down  the  Amazon,  v.  II.     Appleton, 

1911.  $3.50. 

Through  South  America's  Southland,  v.  III.     Appleton,  1916. 
$3.50. 

*A  Special  South  American  Reference  Library.    $3.69,  carriage  extra. 
Beach:    Protestant  Missions  in  South  America. 
Brown:  Latin  America. 
Clark:  Continent  of  Opportunity. 
Dawson:  South  American  Republics,  2  v. 
Hale:  The  South  Americans. 
Pepper:  Panama  to  Patagonia. 
Tucker:  The  Bible  in  Brazil. 

See  also  Appendix  A  and  B  in  "The  Living  Christ  for  Latin  America." 
Magazines — 

Woman's  Work.     Issued  monthly.     50  cents  a  year. 

World  Outlook.     Issued  monthly.     $1.50  a  year. 

Assembly  Herald.     Issued  monthly.     50  cents  a  year. 

Everyland.     Issued  monthly.     $1.00  a  year. 

Over  Sea  and  Land.     Issued  monthly.     25  cents. 

Bulletin  of  the  Pan-American  Union.     Issued  monthly.     $2.00 
a  year. 

196 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Aborigines,  1,  27,  29 

Uplift  of.  30 

BiblioKraphy,  Appendw  A.,  183 
Aconcagua,  3 
Alcoholism,  146 

Cause  of  poverty,  76 
Alfaro,  President,  120 
Almagro,  Diego  de,  143 
Amazon,  3 
American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union, 

118 
Amusements,  66 
Ancestry,  27,  31 
Anchieta,  Jose  de,  110 
Andes,  2 

Anticlericalism,  131 
Areas,  unreached,  chart  14 
Atheism,  103 
Aztec  Empire,  33 

Bibliography,  183 

Banking,  57 

Barbosa,  Ruy.  106 

Barrett,  Hon.  John,  23,  quoted  24 

Barrios,  President.  132 

Bible.  121,  123.  126.  128.  13.S 

Influence  of.  114,  120 

Study.  116 

Distribution  114.  120 

Opposition  to  sale  of,  94 
Bible  Societies.  122.  123 
Bibliographv,  Appendix  A  and  B.  183-4 
Blackford.  Rev.  A.  L.,  119 
Boileau,  Jean  de.  110 
Bolivar,  Simon.  44.  88.  Ill,  137 
Brazil,  2,  10,  32,  151-161 
Bryce,  Viscount,  quoted  164 


Calder6n,  F.  Garcia,  quoted  105, 

Caste.  61 

Character  of  Indians,  30 

Of  women.  67 
Chamberlain.  Rev.  G.  W..  119 
C:hildren.  74-75 

Mortality  of.  77 

Labor  of,  75 
Chile,  143 

Christian  point  of  view.  25 
Church  evangelical,  139 

State,  172 
Climate,  5 
Coast,  4 

Coligny,  Admiral,  109,  110 
Colombia.  8,  139 
Colonization.  32.  33 

Policies.  35-36 

Mismanagement,  42-44 

Contrasted  with  that  of  N.  A., 
Columbus.  Christopher.  137 
Congress  on  Christian  Work  in 
America.  106-108.  174,  178, 


175 


Latin 
180 


Conquistadors,  34,  37 
Cortes.  28.  quoted,  33 
Currency,  57 

Del  Toro,  Judge  Erailio,  quoted,  172, 

178 
Diaz,  Gil,  123 

Discovery  and  colonization,  2 
Dom  Pedro,  45 
Dom  Pedro  II,  45 

Education,  61 

Mission  schools,  132.  138,  147-9 

Public  schools.  134 

Roman  Catholic.  40-41.  137,  145 
Estancias,  55 
Evangelical  Church,  139 
Exports,  13-14 

Foreign  Missions,  119 

Deterred.  19 

Panama  Congress,  20,  106,  107 

Growth,  25 

Opportunities,  136 

Obstacles  to  surmount,  171 
Forests,  12 

Gardiner,  Captain  Allen,  121,  125-6 

George  III.  112 

Gifts,  181 

Grubb,  W.  Barbrooke,  121 

Guatemala,  7,  130-1 

Henderson,  Rev.  Alexander,  123 

Henry  II,  109 

Home  Life,  75,  76,  78,  79 

Iberian  rule.  39 
Illegitimacy,  97,  137 
Illiteracy,  101 
Immorality,  98.  99.  137 
Immigration.  16.  173.  174 
Incas.  government.  28-29 

Bibliography,  Appendix  A,  183 
Independence 

Beginnings,  42,  43,  45 

In  Brazil,  46 

Instability  of  governments,  50 
Indians,  28,  69,  89 

Character  of,  30 

Missions  to,  125-126 

Bibliography,  Appendix  A,  183 
Inquisition,  140 

Interdenominational  missions,  124 
Irreligion,  103 

Joao,  45 

Kalley,  Dr.  Robert  Reid,  117 
Kinsolving,  Bishop  L.  L.,  quoted  178-9 


197 


THE  LIVING  CHRIST  FOR  LATIN  AMERICA 


Labor,  53,  56 

Of  children,  75 
Lancasterian  schools,  112,  114 
Land,  53 

Landlordism,  53,  55 
Lane,  Rev.  Edward,  119 
La  Plata,  3 
Loyalty  of  Latin  American  women,  72 

Mariolatry,  94 

Men,  62HS7 

Mexico,  33,  130 

Milne,  Dr.  Andrew  M.,  120,  121,  122 

Missions,  to  Indians,  125 

Protestant,  19,  20,  25,  106,  107,  119, 
136,171 

Roman  Catholic,  36-38,  41,  90-91 ,  95 
Mission  Field,  meaning  of,  87-88 

Greatest  in  L.  A.,  153 
Molloy,  Rev.  T.  J.,  130 
Mongiardino,  Jose,  119,  120 
Monroe  Doctrine,  83 
Mortality,  65,  100 

Of  children.  77 
Morton,  Rev.  G.  N  ,  119 
Mountain  systems,  2 

Needs,  of  reenforcements,  143,  168 

Open  Bible,  102 

Spiritual,  107 
Neighbors,  15,  179 

O'Higgins,  Bernardo,  44,  113 

Panama  Canal,  20 

Panama  Congress.   106-108,   174.   178. 

180 
Panama  Daily  Star  and  Herald,  quoted, 

178 
Pan-American  Union,  23 
ParanS.,  3 

Pathfinders,  118-123 
Patriotism,  82,  163 

Penzotti,  Francisco,  120,  121,  122.  123 
Phihp  n,  2.  35,  36 
Pizarro,  Gonzalo,  28,  33-34 
Political  divisions  of  the  continent,  1,  32 
Politics,  51,  52 
Population,  1,  102 
Poverty,  76.  103 
Pratt,  Rev.  H.  B.,  119 
Prayer.  180 
Presbyterian  Missions,  88,  118 

Brazil  entered,  119 

In  Chile,  113 

In  Guatemala.  132 

In  Colombia.  141 

Distribution  of  territory.  152 

List  of  mission  stations  and  mission- 
aries, Appendix  D,  188 
Prescott,  quoted,  28 


Press,  Roman  Catholic,  41 
Mission,  133 

Priests,  92,  93 

Primitive  faiths,  89 

Protestant  missionaries,  24 

Mission  schools,  132,  138,  147-9 
Industrial  and   agricultural   schools, 
157 

Public  health,  169 

Races,  27,  31 

Republics,  rise  of,  42,  43,  45 

Resources,  11 

Undeveloped,  15 
Rio  Grande,  1 
Roman  Catholicism 
^   Church  foundutions,  36 

In  Colombia.  141 

Influence  of,  ,38-39 

Absolutism,  38 

Subsidized,  144 

Insufficient,  90-92,  95 

Missions.  36 

Missionaries,  37 

Conversion  of  Indians,  38 

Contributions  of,  41 

Schools.  40-41,  137,  145 

San  Martin,  Jos6  de,  44,  111,  113 
Sarmiento,  General,  88;  President,  102 
Self-support,  154 
Simonton,  Rev.  A.  G.,  119 
Smith,  Rev.  J.  Rockwell.  119 
Spiritual  development,  178-179 
Students,  169 

Latin  American  students  in  N.  A., 
170 

Campaign  to  evangelize,  160 

Taxation,  58-59 

Thomson,  James,  112,  113,  115,  122 

Thomson,  Dr.  J.  F..  121 

Trade.  18,  23 

Trumbull.  David.  D.D.,  118 

Trumbull,  Mrs.,  147 

United  States  of  N.  A.,  relations  with, 

22 
LTnreached  areas,  Ch.  IV 

Valdivia,  Pedro  de,  143 
Villegaignon,  Nicolas  Durand  de,  109, 

110 
Virgin  Mary,  94-5 

Women,  67-74 
Work  among,  134 

Yanes,  Senor  Francisco,  23 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  124 
Young  Women's  Christian  Association, 
125 


198 


Date  Due 


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